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THE 



HONEST FARMER 



FROM 



ARKANSAS 

ON A LARK SEEIN' 



) 3 



THE WEST 



-BY— 



B. J. MILAM 



F" 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

MAR 2 1906 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS OS XXc. No. 

13/ ° §3 

' COPY B. 






Entered in the office of the 

Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 

in the year 1905, 

By BUKT J. MILAM. 



PREFACE. 



In presenting, this volume to the public, I 
have endeavored to chronicle facts as I saw 
and experienced them as they were transpir- 
ing, and which have since become historical 
data, emblazoned upon the living pages of onr 
country's historv. There are thousands who are 
now citizens of the New Country which was 
opened to settlement in 1901, and also thou- 
sands who were witnesses to the stirring events 
enacted at that time, who will appreciate my 
efforts in thus recording a true and untar- 
nished picture of some of the exciting incidents 
which took place during the opening of the 
Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Indian reserva- 
tions, which I have given in the four letters to 
my wife. 

The character sketches and the portrayal of 
the turbulent element, presenting to the mind 
both the smooth and rough sides of human na- 
ture without enlargement or embellishment of 
either, I am sure will be appreciated by those 
who won or lost on the final cast of the die, 



and like myself, enjoyed to the fullest extent 
the novelty of being one of the great multitude 
who participated in that colossal scheme. 

In regard to the Lewis and Clark Exposition 
trip, I stop bewildered, and ask the reader not 
to condemn me too hastily; but try to consider 
the littleness one feels when brought face to 
face with the magnificent grandeur of the far 
West, where the Majesty of God in all the glo- 
riousness of his being stands sublimely forth. 

On every hand was reflected from the truth- 
ful face of nature the omnipresence of a Su- 
preme Being. And as I gazed upon the won- 
derful beauties that flashed continuously like 
moving pictures before my vision, I possessed 
a feeling of silent admiration which held me 
spellbound, and while I felt the poetry and 
music of my surroundings, permeating every 
fibre of my being, language always failed me 
when attempting a description of that grand 
vista of lovely, rugged witnesses of God's handi- 
craft. 

B. J. MILAM. 



WITH LOVE AND DEVOTION 

TO 
MY DEVOTED WIFE, MOLLIE MILAM. 



I DEDICATE THIS BOOK 

To the Great Southwest and West, whose 
loyal, magnanimous, hospitable, and chivalric 
people I know will pardon the many omissions 
and commissions to be found in a volume, com- 
piled by one so very deficient in descriptive lan- 
guage suited to portray to the minds of the 
reader in words of poetical diction, the beau- 
ties of nature and art as they are commingled 
together in harmonious and attractive simili- 
tudes in our Great Western-land. 



10 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 



LETTER NO. 1. 



A TRIP FROM DUNCAN TO FORT SILL, I. 

T. TO REGISTER. 



Fort Sill, Indian Territory, July 18, 1901. 

Mrs. Mollie Milam, 
Lttfkin, Texas. 

My Dear Mollie: — I arrived at Duncan, I. T., 
yesterday at 1:15 o'clock P. M., having decided 
that I could register much sooner at Fort Sill, 
than I could at El Reno, Okla., though I had 
purchased my ticket through to the latter place, 
if you remember; but in order to avoid the crush 
and discomfort to be met with at El Reno, and 
considering my physical condition, I thought it 
best to lose my fare for the remaining seventy 
miles, so upon this decision, which as the future 
developed, proved to be a wise one, I left the 
train at Duncan, and immediately sought out 
means of conveyance to this place. 

On the train before reaching Duncan, I had 
become acquainted with Dr. Butler a very 
pleasant gentleman, hailing from Missouri; he 
and I with a red-headed Irishman from Texas 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. n 

by the name of Sullivan, who was the posses- 
sor of a hot, fiery breath, produced by the too 
frequent potations from a quart bottle of Fort 
Worth's "forty rod snake pisen," which had a 
tendency to make life a burden to those coining 
in immediate contact with this oyer mellow son 
of Erin, made up the party who engaged the 
services of one of the hacks, plying between 
Duncan and this place, with the owner for driv- 
er, a pleasant young man by the name of Al- 
bright. After the three of us had dined sump- 
tuously at a first class restaurant, for which 
the red-headed Hibernian wanted to settle for in 
toto himself, and which we would not allow, we 
repaired to a grocery store, where we made a 
few small purchases for our supper which we 
were to enjoy out on the beautiful prairies; 
our driver furnished the coffee, coffee-kettle, 
jugs of water, and dry kindling for the fire. So 
at 3 :30 o'clock everything being ready, we pulled 
out for the new Mecca that is now attracting 
thousands of speculative human beings who 
are ever restless for anything just so it is a 
change. On the trip out, Ave traveled through 
some of the most beautiful country it has ever 



12 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

been rny pleasure to see. I could not begin to 
describe to you in this short pen picture the 
magnificent grandeur of this "The Promised 
Land." We passed through a broad expanse of 
high prairie with numerous large creeks wind- 
ing their way along, bordered with a growth of 
trees, their emerald green foliage glistening in 
the sunlight, lend a gorgeous enchantment to 
the view. The irregular windings of the creeks 
and continuous draws have the effect of break- 
ing what would otherwise prove to be a monot- 
onous roll of great level prairies. I find that 
nearly all the watercourses are fed by living 
springs, consequently the country is blessed 
with pure running water the year round. At 
7:30 o'clock, we halted long enough to straight- 
en out our legs and cook supper. Here I tried 
my persuasive powers upon Sullivan, our hero 
from Cork, and finally prevailed upon him to 
the extent that he agreed to take one small pull 
at the mouth of the destroying angel he was 
carrying in his pocket, and then smash its body 
on the wheel of the hack, and let the contents 
of its stomach be quenched up by the thirsty 
earth at his feet; this he did, and after his rid- 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 13 

dance of the damnable stuff he ate a hearty 
supper, and partook freely of the black strong 
coffee; so by the time we were ready to si art 
again he had escaped a possible attack of the 
delirium tremens, and was showing himself to 
be quite a nice, gentlemanly and companiona- 
ble fellow. Just before embarking again for 
onr last run of the trip, we three took a walk 
OA r er the adjacent prairies, and made onr selec- 
tion of the quarter section of land we shall file 
on when the drawing is over, and we are de- 
clared winners, as we feel perfectly confident 
that we will be anion o- the lucky ones. 

The mantle of darkness had then fallen 
around us, and the lovely views that we had 
been enjoying during our early evening's ride, 
were lost in the gathering gloom; but we were 
not lifeless by any means, a song occasionally, 
or a funny story by the M. D. would enliven us, 
and our red-headed friend from Erin go bragh 
had always a witticism to spring upon us, and 
usually at the most unexpected moment. I 
found him to be an old timer in the Indian coun- 
try, and was a full fledged "sooner," and has 
been in every run that has been made in the 



14 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

last ten or twelve years. I asked him if he 
should be lucky and win a claim what he would 
do with it? "Och," said he, "I will be afther 
selling av it to onct as Oi did afther the ither 
tow rhuns I waz in, and then jine the gang, and 
raise a howlv row for anither devoide av the in- 
jun lands, the dommed red crithers should only 
have one hundred and sixtv acres the same as 
us poor divils, and yez can bet yez loife they 
are not entoitled to any more, vez hear that 
don't yez?" 

We were going along at a lively rate about 
10:30 o'clock when one of the mules hitched to 
the hack stepped into a little rut, staggered for- 
ward, and fell across the pole of the hack. We 
all received quite a severe shaking up, and but 
for the quick actions of Doctor Butler we might 
have had a serious tear up; but no sooner had 
the mule begun to stumble than the Doctor, 
with the agility of a cat, was out upon the 
ground, and by the time the sprawling mule 
struck the earth broad side, in a final lurch it 
made, the Doctor had hold of the bridle with 
both hands, and as the frightened animal 
got up, it was quieted and held until Ave had all 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 15 

safely cleared the entanglements of the hack, 
and run to the Doctor's assistance. After a 
hasty examination, we found about eighteen 
inches of the pole broken off, the driver was 
then in a peck of trouble, said he had no tools 
with which he could patch up the broken part. 
Then the Doctor came to the rescue again with 
his fund of ready ingenuity, he asked the driver 
what he could find in the way of tools to work 
with? He was informed that an old dull 
hatchet, which was used in splitting kindling 
wood, was all he had. "Trot her out," said the 
Doctor, "Build up a fire and we will see what can 
be done. I think we can fix it up, so it will car- 
ry us through allright, with the hatchet and my 
jackknife." The fire was quickly made, and 
the piece of broken pole with the metal thim- 
ble on the end was thrust into the flames in or- 
der to burn out the wood, and expand the iron. 
While this process was going on, the Doctor and 
I were busily engaged in trimming down the 
slivered end of the pole upon which the thim- 
ble had to be replaced. Soon everything was 
ready, and seizing the red hot thimble between 
two small pieces of plank, which we used in 



15 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

lieu of tongs, we placed it in position, and with 
a few well directed blows with the hatchet, 
wielded by the veritable Doctor, and the quick 
application of a cold water bath from one of the 
jugs, to contract the metal, we had it securely 
fastened; far more secure than we imagined, for 
three weeks after this occurrence, I met the 
driver of the same outfit in Duncan, and asked 
him how much it cost him to have his broken 
hack pole repaired, supposing of course that he 
had been to the shop with it; but imagine my 
surprise, when he in a seemingly injured air in- 
formed me that it hadn't cost him anything, as 
it was not necessary to carry it to the shop, 
that he had been making two trips a week ever 
since it was broken and it was still as good as 
new. "Say, Mr.! don't you know that fellow, 
from Missoury called himself a doctor, and that 
may be what they call him back there; but out 
in Kansas where I come from we called 'em 
blacksmiths and durn good uns at that; if he is 
a sure enough doctor and is as good at doctor- 
ing as he is at blacksmithing, he needn't come 
all the way out here to draw a piece of land in 
order to make a living on. I should think he 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 17 

could find a living hanging out for him in old 
Missoury." Everything being ready for hitch- 
ing up and renewing our journey, that had been 
so unceremoniously interrupted, the mules were 
led around, and in order to make himself useful 
as well as posing for a sunset ornament, our 
wild Irishman made a dive for the hack pole to 
lift it up for receiving the breast yoke, forget- 
ting all about its being hot, he grabbed hold of 
the thimble and Oh! My! the effluvium of his 
breath was lost in the imaginary sulphuric odor, 
emanating from the forcible language that was 
floating out upon the night's chilly atmosphere. 
"Howly murtherin Saint Patritchk! may the 
divil fly away wicl yez; Och, and whoi didn't yez 
tell me it wer the diviPs own tongue I would be 
afther teking howld av?" These are only a few 
of the milder expletives used during the antics 
he cut while his hands were cooling down to a 
degree of comfort, to where he could control his 
much enraged feelings. In a few minutes we 
were off. Our delay incident to the break- 
down made us late in our arrival here. It was 
just 12:15 o'clock A. M. when we drove up in 



18 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

front of an immense lodging tent, where I se- 
cured a cot for the remainder of the night. 

After several hours of sweet sleep, I was 
aroused by the tramping and mntterings of the 
thousands of people that were early astir in the 
"Tent city" getting their breakfasts, and mak- 
ing arrangements for joining the registering 
companies that were being formed, and in or- 
der to have this trying ordeal over with as soon 
as possible, I was quickly out, and in a short 
time had almost lost my identity in the mass of 
struggling humanity I found upon the streets. 
After I had my breakfast, I joined company 197, 
and by 10:30 o'clock had registered, whereas if 
I had gone to El Keno I might have been 
obliged to stand in line several days before reg- 
istering. 

I find Fort Sill, instead of being almost dor- 
mant of animation, and showing that tired and 
sleepy appearance so characteristic of old Army 
Posts, now presents qnite an animated and 
bustling appearance, with the thousands of 
home s°ekers camping around the outskirts of 
the soldiers' quarters and along the banks of 
beautiful Cache (cash) creek near by. The hun- 



CERTIFICATE. 



LAWTON LAND DISTRICT, 



OFFICE AX LAWTON, OKLAHOMA. 






UDts Is to certffg That... 
has shown himself to be duly qualified aud has registers as an applicant to make homestead 
entry from the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache ceded lands within the Law'/on land district and 
is authorized to enter upon and examine the unallotted and unreserved portion of said' ceded 
lands lying south of the first standard parallel, north, at any time pri'.r to August 6, 1901, for 
the sole purpose of aiding him in making selection and entry of said lands, but not for the pur- 
pose of effecting a settlement thereon prior to entry. 

Zbte Certificate is not transferable, but must be pro.ented with the application for 
entry, and any attempt to transfer the same will forfeit all benefits secured by reason of said 
registration. 

Countersigned at.^...^^Z^\. £-OA*T. T ..^.-... JJ * i »y July„/.....U..« 1901 

By 

The Honest Farmer's Certificate of Registration. 





ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 21 

dreds of prairie schooners with their white can- 
vas coverings, the jam of buggies, hacks, sur- 
reys, jumpcarts, and in fact every vehicle that 
will hang together, and stand the trip from the 
nearest railroad station, and bear their burden 
of bringing to this place the gathering throng 
that is ever drifting this way; the white winged 
tents glistening in the sunlight, the white 
limestone buildings of the fort, and the beauti- 
ful stone mansion of the commanding officer 
(Major Scott, at present), perched as it is upon 
the highest point of the hill upon which Fort 
Sill is built, with its lovely grounds falling gent- 
ly away until lost in the prairies below, all 
this intermingling of varied scenes presented to 
the eyes of one who can appreciate the sur- 
roundings, causes him to draw in his mind a 
picture that is both lovely and enchanting. All 
one can hear now is — "Have you registered?" 
And of course everybody is engaged in booming 
the new town site, Lawton, which will be the 
county seat of this new county of Comanche. 
I joined a new town site company early this 
morning by donating to one of the ostensible 
promoters the munificent sum of twenty-five 



22 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

cents as a membership fee, and upon the pay- 
ment, I became a full fledged member; it did 
not cost me much to join and it will never cost 
me any more. I don't mind this little "pull of 
the leg," I really consider it a good investment 
if that is all it requires to keep me in good 
standing with these people, who seem to be the 
leaders of the heavy weight lodging establish- 
ments that have temporarily located here. The 
prediction of "Sooners" of other runs in Okla- 
homa, is that in one hour after the town site of 
Law ton is declared open, on the 6th of August, 
it will have a population of five thousand peo- 
ple. On the Gth, the lots of the town site will 
be put up at auction, and sold to the highest 
bidder; it is predicted by the knowing ones that 
in two hours after the sale of the lots begins, 
there will be found inside the city limits, all 
kinds of enterprises in first class running shape, 
even to the publishing of a daily newspaper, the 
Lawton Democrat. I had the pleasure of meet- 
ing Mr. L. T. Russell, the future editor, late of 
Ryan, I. T., and who still, I believe, runs a week- 
ly paper at that place. 

1 am making arrangements to drive over to 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 23 

the Lawson site some time today and will write 
you tomorrow. I am very tired today, however 
the condition of my health is improving rapidly. 

I am living cheaply enough so far as the 
prices are concerned; but there is not much to 
eat in this low cost of living, but I am falling 
into line all right, and am surprised at the low 
prices I find prevailing on everything that is 
offered for sale. In fact, I think the people 
here should get better prices, for the hardships 
incident to living and laboring under the disad- 
vantages should be considered in making and 
governing all prices; but such is not the case 
and I find, on the contrary, the people who are 
trying to furnish accommodations for the com- 
ers and goers are poorly paid indeed. While I 
may have to undergo some hardships while out 
in this country, I feel sure that my health will 
be greatly benefited, therefore I will have no 
complaint to make. 

Write me at this place unless I notify you 
otherwise. 

Devotedly, 

B. J. Milam. 



24 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

LETTER NO. 2. 



A Trip From Fort Sill, I. T. Back to Duncan, 

I. T. 



Duncan, Indian Territory, July 21, 1901. 

Mrs. Moeeie Milam, 
Lufkin, Texas. 

Dear Mollie: — Mv reason for writing von a 
postal card on the 19th inst, was that I had on- 
ly just arrived in Duncan from Fort Sill late 
in the afternoon, and learned upon inquiry that 
I could get mail off on the delayed south bound 
Rock Island Mail train, which would carry the 
letter from Ft. Sill in which I had instructed 
you to address me at that place. 

I had a nice ride back to Duncan behind Mr. 
Thompson's spanking span of large Missouri 
mares. Mr. Thompson came from Missouri to 
Duncan ten months ago, intending to join the 
"sooner" gang, and gobble a slice of Uncle Sam's 
domain (?), when the long expected run should 
take place; but now, — poor fellow! he has to 
take his chance in the "Big Wheel" along with 
ns "poor devils." "Of all sad words," Mr. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 25 

Thompson, "of tongue or pen, the saddest are 
these; it might have been," — A. Hush. 

Instead of coining back the main Duncan and 
Ft. Sill road, at "Red Store" two miles south 
from Fort Sill, we took a new road that bears 
south five to eight miles farther down into the 
free lands of the Lawton district. From where 
we crossed Cache creek to Big Beaver crossing, 
a distance of about eighteen miles, is a beauti- 
ful prairie country. I don't think it can be sur- 
passed for unblemished beauty anywhere in 
the United States, and I think it is very fertile, 
as the native mesquite and blue stem grasses 
grow from knee to waist high all over it. No 
one, in his most vivid dreams of imagination, 
who has never seen this country, can picture in 
his mind with any degree of correctness, the 
beauties here presented to the delighted vision 
of the passing traveler as he rolls along lazily 
in his prairie schooner, protected from the heat 
of the sun's rays by the friendly sail of his dry- 
land vessel, or as he bowls merrily over the prai- 
rie in a livery rig. 

He sees the primitive beauties of this unde- 
veloped land, which until very recently, has 



26 THE HONEST PARMER PROM ARKANSAW 

beeu the paradise of the noble red man and his 
closely allied friends the cattle men and that 
useful, and very necessary adjunct to the last 
party mentioned, the cowboy. As I watched 
the intrepid cowboys, in their daring reckless- 
ness and seeming negligence of their own lives 
and limbs, astride of a bucking broncho of ten 
dollars value, seated in a full rigged saddle 
that cost forty or fifty dollars, dash over the 
treacherous prairies in pursuit of the great 
herds of cattle that are now being rounded up 
to be driven or shipped to other places of pas- 
turage, (as all the cattle that are in this country 
now must be gotten out by August the 6th, the 
date of opening.) To my mind is recalled a 
verse from a poem by Rev. Abe Bulkney, which 
he recited in Lufkin several years ago. You re- 
member it I know. 

"Last night as I lay on the prairie, 

Looking up at the stars in the sky, 
I wondered if ever a cowboy 

Would drift to that sweet bye-and-bye. ^ 
Oh ! they say there will be a grand round up, 

When Cowboys like cattle will stand 
To be cut by the riders of judgment, 

Who are posted and know every brand." 

I said that I had a nice ride coming back, 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 27 

but I will have to modify that statement to some 
extent. Thousands of vehicles of all kinds have 
been traveling the main Duncan and Fort Sill 
road for several weeks, passing to and fro be- 
tween these places, consequently the dust, ow- 
insr to the drouth of four months duration and 
the constant travel, is now from three to eight 
inches deep. We got along all right on our 
route until the road came back into the main 
road ten miles from Duncan, where in a few 
minutes afterward, there came up a severe wind 
and thunder storm, — no rain. And dust! Oh! 
My! It almost choked our team; we could hard- 
ly get them along, and as for ourselves, I could 
not begin to explain so }^ou could fully compre- 
hend the real condition we were in; however, 
we certainly were not in a condition to "cuss" as 
we were too full (of dust) for utterance. Un- 
der these conditions we were forced to travel 
until within about one mile of Duncan the wind 
subsided, and as we drove into town, in our im- 
aginations we could not help but think that the 
good people upon seeing us could hardly re 
frain from comparing us, and" aptly so, to the 
first creation of man, when God made Adam of 



28 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

dust and thereupon breathed the breath of life 
into him; so also we were abundantly able to 
testify by lip and personal appearances that the 
breath of life had only just been breathed into 
our bodies (that is upon the subsidence of the 
storm.) Aren't we of the "Earth and of the 
earth earthy?" So we are surely made of dust 
and, as could be seen, quite a large portion of 
it was of recent formation. I believe I could 
have written you more intelligently about my 
trip back if my brain had not become so befog- 
ged with the accursed terror. 

I have secured a pleasant boarding place, and 
have a nice cool room , clean bed, and above all, 
pure, cool cistern water to drink, and the price 
per week for my accommodations is very moder- 
ate. I think I shall try to get back to Fort Sill 
bv next Saturday. I want to be there by that 
time in order to witness the sight of the "Tent 
City" moving off the Government Military Re- 
, serye. You know the registering ceases on the 
26 th of this month, and I heard as I sat in a lodg- 
ing tent in Fort Sill writing you on the 18th inst. 
the soldiers proclaiming throughout the town 
to the people there assembled, that all persons 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 29 

found upon the Reserve after the 26th would be 
forcibly ejected. It is predicted the people will 
then immediately move upon the edge of the 
town site of Lawton, which is five miles south 
of Fort Sill. They dare not go inside the 
bounds as the town site reserve will be strongly 
picketed with Federal troops until the 6th of 
August. In fact, according to the proclama- 
tion of the President, no citizen of the United 
States except those registering has any right, 
whatever, inside the boundaries of the entire 
new country until after the date of the opening; 
however the general belief is: that none of these 
people will be molested. 

After witnessing the removal of the canvas 
suburb of Fort Sill, I expect to return to Dun- 
can, and remain until about the 3rd of August, 
when I will go over to Lawton, and remain until 
the drawing is over. I would not miss being in 
Lawton the day of the opening for anything in 
the world. I think it is going to be a sight I 
shall remember distinctly as long as I live. The 
nearer the time approaches for the great event 
to come off, the more excited everybody be- 
comes. Of course the center of the great boil- 



30 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

ing caldron of excitement is now located at El 
Reno; but the center of attraction will soon be 
changed, on the 29th Lawton will be the en- 
chanted spot of the mind's imagination. 

I am truly glad I did not go to El Reno, as I 
understand there is a very boisterous crowd 
there, and the extreme heat and scarcit}^ of 
water make it very hard upon the people who 
go there to register; while here at Duncan, 
which is located in the midst of the great prai- 
ries, there is always a delightful breeze blow- 
ing, and the nights so cool that in order to be 
comfortable I have to sleep under two covers. 
And again, it is jnst the size town I like, not 
only to be in for a short stav; but it is mv ideal 
of a town to live in. It has a population of 
about three thousand among the best and most 
hospitable people it has ever been my pleasure 
to meet; it is built up nearly altogether of the 
old Southern type of citizens. I find no ne- 
groes here, while there is no law against ne- 
groes living in the town, there is an under cur- 
rent of feeling among the people that is strong 
enough to show from surface indications that 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 3 { 

the colored man is not wanted, and consequent- 
ly lie is not here. 

The business part of the town is built of red 
sandstone, which is obtained from a large quar- 
rv about four miles from town, and I can truth- 
fully say that this is the most beautiful build- 
ing stone I have ever seen. Instead of fading 
and becoming a light, pale hue from exposure 
to the weather, the longer it is exposed the red- 
der it becomes, until finally after } 7 ears of ex- 
posure it becomes a beautiful blood red color. 
Among the public institutions noted, I find 
three churches represented: Methodist, Chris- 
tian and Baptist. A splendid school building 
and a well established school. Duncan is 
known as the Queen City of the Territory, to 
which appellation I think she is justly entitled. 
The absence of saloons is more noticeable here 
to one coming from the States than most any 
other point of interest about the town. 

I find it is against the Federal laws to 
sell or offer for sale any intoxicating liquors or 
drinks in the Indian Territory or to even bring 
it within the borders. But I heard a gentle- 
man saying last night (and he seemed to know 



32 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

whereof he spoke) that there are already one 
hundred and fifty applications for saloon li- 
cense in the town of Lawton, and the saloon 
men would be selling- whiskey in the new town 
in less than twenty-four hours after the opening. 
What do you think of that? Another gentle- 
man made the statement that there would be 
ten thousand people in Lawton in three days 
after it was opened. I think this last state- 
ment overdrawn. 

Mollie, there are two, one hundred and sixty 
acre blocks of land lying next to the town site 
of Lawton, which are estimated to be worth for- 
ty thousand dollars each the minute the lucky 
persons draw them; they are Nos. 1 and 2, while 
there are several 1-4 sections that will be worth 
from two thousand five hundred to five thou- 
sand dollars each. 

About the 1st of August when I go to Fort 
Sill and call for my mail, if the postmaster 
should hand me out a notification card showing 
that I had drawn No. 1, the capital prize worth 
a cool forty thousand, you know I would almost 
die of strangulation of the heart. Say: a dust 
storm wouldn't be "in it" a little bit, do you 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 33 

think? We can only wish for a consummation 
of these fond hopes, and enjoy the possible real- 
ization of them until our fate is decided by the 
turn of the great wheel. 

Well, I will write you again on my trip to 
Lawton. 

Devotedly, 

B. J. Milam. 



34 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

LETTER No. 3. 



Five Days Trip Hunting and Fishing In The 

Comanche Country. 



Duncan, Indian Territory, July 31, 1901. 

Mrs. Moelie Milam, 
Lufkin, Texas. 

Dear Mollie: — After my arrival in Duncan 
Friday the 19th inst., my whole thought was 
centered on the consummation of one desire, 
and that was to get up a crowd and make a 
tour of the Comanche countrv. I realized the 
fact that I should have a much needed rest af- 
ter my tiresome trip to Fort Sill, consequently 
I did nothing in the matter until the Monday fol- 
lowing, when I met and became acquainted with 
Mr. Walter Davenport, Clerk in the Cheek Lum- 
ber Yard. While talking with him in regard 
to the trip, his father came up and joined in 
the conversation. "Whv!" he said, "I have a 
pair of good horses and my neighbor Mr. Hazle- 
wood has a wagon and I aim satisfied he will 
go, so get up two or three others, and furnish 
the feed for the horses and grub for the crowd, 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 35 

and Mr. Hazlewood will do the cooking; I will 
carry the bedding for all, and the trip won't 
cost you much, and we will all have a jolly good 
time." Now vou know I didn't "do a thing" but 
jump at that proposition, and readily agreed; 
but as a "chuck" box had to be made in which 
to carry our supplies, and a little harness had 
to be mended, the arrangement was made for 
me to get my men together, and be ready bright 
and early Wednesday morning; as I had prior 
to that time met a young gentleman Mr. Messer 
and an old gentleman named McElvy and liked 
them very much, I soon hunted them up and 
laid the proposition before them, to which they 
at once agreed. 

So Tuesday evening, we three went to the 
grocery store of Mr. Williams and purchased our 
supplies for the trip, and after we figured the 
sum total up, it amounted to only two dollars 
and forty-five cents each, for the five days' trip. 

Now, I will give you a sketch of the trip from 
the time we left Duncan until our return. On 
Wednesdav mornincr Julv 24th, we all met at 
the Cheek Lumber Yard where Messrs. Hazle- 
wood and Davenport had made a nice, conve- 



36 THE HONEST FARMERTROM ARKANSAW 

nient "chuck" box; we fitted it in between the 
side boards of the rear end of the wagon. From 
there we went to the store, loaded in the 
"chuck," and were just about ready to start 
when a young man, driving a gray pony to a 
light road-wagon, drove up, and wanted to be 
included in our party; as Mr. Davenport and Mr. 
Hazlewood were ready to vouch for him social- 
ly and morally, we all agreed for him to join us, 
so with this last addition we set our faces to- 
ward the west for the purpose of spending five 
davs in the "Promised Land" or Comanche Conn- 
try, investigating soil, grasses, water courses, 
and general prospective resources of that coun- 
try 

I think it appropriate at this point to give you 
a little sketch of the personnel of our party. As 
Mr. Davenport was the old patriarch of the 
crowd, I will begin with him. Uncle Seborn 
Ludwell Davenport was born in Clarke County, 
Ga., in 1829, and is now hale and hearty, bear- 
ing his 71 vears with the easv grace of a Roman, 
and as lie has sailed over the se^as of these beau- 
tiful prairie lands for twenty years or more, he 
assumed the place of Captain over the destinies 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 37 

of our full rigged prairie schooner upon her voy- 
age. Mr. John Wesley Hazlewood is a native 
Kentuekian, in which State he was bora forty- 
eight years ago, went to Texas in 1871; but for 
the past ten years has been living in or near 
Duncan, I. T., and he is not, as his name would 
imply, a Methodist, but a full-fledged deep wa- 
ter Campbell ite. Mr. John McElvy was born in 
Alabama in 1844, and when he was one year 
old his father moved to Angelina County, Texas, 
where he located Homer, the old County Site, 
some time between 1845, and 1S50. Mr. McElvy 
went through the Confederate War, served in 
the 8th Texas Infantrv, Walker's Division, Hil- 
lenkamp Adjutant. His present home is in 
Rosenberg, Fort Bend County, Texas. Mr. 
Frank Messer was born in the old Tar Heel 
State, North Carolina, Haywood County, in 
1SG8; went out to Fannin County, Texas, last 
February, and came out to the opening of the 
Comanche Country two weeks ago. Mr. Frank 
Carmeyer, owner of the gray pony and road 
wagon, was born in Indiana some thirty-five 
years ago, landed in the Chickasaw Nation about 
ten years ago, and has been foreman of Colbert's 



38 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

cattle and pony ranch for the past five years, 
"Buster" Key, our "Mascot" of the outfit, aged 
nine years and related to Mr. Hazlewood, and 
the Colonel (that's me) filled out the list of our 
merry party. Uncle Seborn Davenport put the 
handle to my name before he had known me ten 
minutes; but not through any disrespect in the 
least, and in a verv short time I was known as 
the "Colonel" to the whole party, and tried to 
bear the honored title with credit to those who 
bestowed it. 

So unfurling the sails and tightening up the 
stays here and there of our weatherbeaten prai- 
rie schooner, we were off for the Comanche 
Country, and were soon making our way through 
the Indian pasture lands two and one-half miles 
from town. This pasture is seven miles long 
and five miles wide, and lying as it does, so 
near Duncan, I can't help but think it will be 
quite an injury to the trade that might other- 
wise come to Duncan from the new territory 
now opening for settlement, and to make mat- 
ters still worse, adjoining this large pasture on 
the north is the Government Wood Keserve, 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 39 

consisting of twenty-eight thousand acres, quite 
a draw-back to Duncan — Don't you thiuk? 

After passing through the big pasture, we 
crossed the head of Plum Creek 5 miles from 
town, turned a little south of west, and traveled 
through high rolling prairies interspersed with 
timber; the ground was covered with blue stem 
and mesquite grasses. We stopped for dinner 
on Little Beaver at 1:30 o'clock, that is, on the 
banks of a small deep lake, or bayou that is made 
by the back waters of Little Beaver, and staked 
the horses out on the grass, which grows luxuri- 
antly along the creek. Mr. Hazlewood took 
charge of the culinary department as chief, Un- 
cle Seborn, assistant. Mr. Garmeyer left his 
wagon a few minutes before we arrived at the 
lake and soon rejoined us with a nice supply of 
squirrels for dinner, and only a mile or so back, 
Mr. Hazlewood had shot some plover, and after 
the wagon had stopped, Buster, our "Mascot," 
gathered his hook and line and with a grass- 
hopper for bait (of which the prairie grass was 
literally full) soon had a nice fish landed, so 
our first dinner out proved to be a feast far be- 
yond our most sanguine anticipations. 



40 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

We left there at 3 o'clock P. M., and traveled 
through some very rich bottom land for several 
miles to the confluence of Little Beaver and Big 
Beaver; as it was then getting late, and we had 
to select some place for our night's camp, we 
pulled back upon the prairie overlooking the 
valley of the two Beavers below, and there we 
found springs dripping out of the granite rocks 
over-capping the bluffs. So we christened the 
springs, "Dripping Springs," as the water fell 
from the crevices of the massive rocks drop by 
drop, pure and sweet, as if the foot of Nature 
was set firm upon the breast of Mother Earth, 
and was sending forth the life-saving nectar for 
the benefit of man, God's chosen handiwork. 

Just as we got our camp located in good 
shape, something was said about the sun-set, 
and turning my eyes to the west I beheld a 
scene that was indeed beautiful. Oh, how glo- 
rious and grand the great orb of day appeared, 
sinking to rest in the golden halo beyond the 
far stretches of the rolling prairies and the his- 
toric Mounts Scott and Sheridan in the far dis- 
tant Wichita Mountains! After the horses 
were properly staked out, we all took a short 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 41 

walk over the adjoining prairies, and with one 
accord joined in expressing our admiration of 
the country. 

After returning to camp, Mr. Hazlewood 
again took charge of the kitchen, and soon 
served a supper that was fit for the gods. Sup- 
per over, the time was spent until 9 o'clock 
spinning yarns. There were quite a number 
told that were hugely enjoyed; but the palm 
was finally yielded to Uncle Seborn Davenport, 
when he got off the following on himself. He 
said, "My boys (I think there are nine grown 
sons) and myself were out hunting some wild 
hogs, several years since, that had been giving 
me some trouble by breaking through my fence 
and damaging my crops. The dogs had chased 
the bunch into Wild Horse Creek bottom, and 
were crowding them pretty close when all at 
once the whole 'darned' bunch faced about with 
their bristles raised like porcupines, showed 
fight, and as wild hogs are very dangerous when 
brought to bay, the word was hastily passed 
around for everv fellow to look out for number 
one. So I made a break for a tall slim pecan 
tree and, as I thought, climbed to the topmost 



42 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

branch and halloed as loud as I could yell, 
'boys, get a tree, I am all right!' Then I heard 
the voice of one of the boys from the top of a 
tall pecan tree close by say, 'yes dad, I see you 
are all right. Just stay where you are, I don't 
think anything but a cyclone could move you/ 
and dod rat my time, Colonel, would you believe 
it, I was settin' right down flat on the ground 
with my legs stretched out on each side of a 
little slim pecan about six inches through, and 
my arms clasped around the body of it as high 
up as I could reach. The tree was so small that 
when I made an effort to clinch it in order to 
climb to a place of security, I would slip to the 
ground and was that bad sheered, I thought I 
was shore settin' in the top of the blamed thing, 
and if the dogs hadn't got the hogs on the run 
again, I would have been in the middle of a bad 
fix." 

After Uncle Seborn's yarn, we all sought our 
couches for the night's repose. The Colonel and 
Uncle Seborn had the honor of occupying the 
only cots in the camp, while the others of the 
party sought a soft place on the prairie where 
the grass grew the tallest, and where they could 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 43 

more easily find the sweet charms of Morpheus, 
as they rested upon the lap of Mother Earth 
covered by the free open canopy of Heaven. It 
was indeed a beautiful night, with myriads of 
twinkling little stars peeping out from the blue 
firmament above, and the silvery river of heav- 
en traversing the boundless realm of space. I 
had to linger and feast my soul upon the beau- 
ties of Nature's handicraft, displayed before my 
enraptured vision, before finally yielding to the 
sweet restful charms of sleep. 

Early the next morning, we were awakened 
by the howling of wolves in the distant bot- 
toms, and coyotes out on the prairies quite a 
distance away. They are terrible cowards, but 
all the same, they had a very depressing effect 
upon our comrade Frank Messer — he was not 
afraid Oh! No! he said their howling just 
grated upon his nervous system to such an ex- 
tent he could hardly bear it. 

We were all soon astir and making prepara- 
tions for our breakfast, with Mr. Hazlewood at 
the helm. Those duties were soon over, tents 
folded, and we were off at 7 o'clock for the ver- 
dant banks of Cache creek, the largest water 



44 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

course in all the new country, distance about 17 
miles. From there we went a south course 
down the creek, several miles through 
a second table land, very rich soil, dot- 
t e d with bunches of timber here and 
there, then we had to return to our camping 
place of the night before as we had failed to 
find a ford. We crossed Big Beaver at 10 
'/'clock, entered a beautiful lanscape of high 
rolling prairie, sandy nature, growth of grass 
good, and arrived on the banks of the pictur- 
esque Cache Creek, at 12:30 o'clock, an ideal 
place for stopping, unloaded camp outfit, and 
struck camp for the next two days. Our sur- 
roundings were indeed beautiful, the bottom 
is almost one mile wide, rising gently to the 
high bluffs of the prairie in the background. 

As I was going with Uncle Seborn to stake 
out the horses so that they could feed at Na- 
ture's bounteous board to their full satisfaction, 
1 perforce made a discovery of a very peculiar, 
and to me a new species of grass as I had never 
seen anything like it before, and I found that all 
the other members of the party were equally 
as much in the dark in regard to it as I was. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 45 

As we started out to perform the duty to which 
I referred I caught my foot in something I sup- 
posed to be a vine of some kind, and I at once 
kissed Mother Earth full in the face, I took not 
the name of the Lord in vain; but laughed over 
my first misfortune, but after the third terrific 
contact with the ground, I asked Uncle Seborn 
why he persisted in tangling me up in his stake 
rope? he at once answered by making charges 
of the same tenor against me; it seemed that 
he had troubles of his own, and had sustained 
several falls also, and was trying to locate the 
cause of his dilemma. We at once got together 
and made a search for our common enemy, and 
found it to be a long running grass of a very 
coarse nature; we succeeded in pulling from 
among the matted mass of prairie grasses, us- 
ually found hi the creek bottoms, a full length 
spine of the grass, and found it to be by actual 
measurement twenty feet in length; the joints 
were about ten inches apart, and at every joint 
there would shoot up a bunch of long slender 
blades; the grass did not seem to cling to the 
earth as the bermuda and other like grasses do, 
but was held up from the ground and supported 



46 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

by other grasses, about midway between their 
roots and tops, thereby setting a sure deadfall 
for the unsuspecting pedestrian. 

Near where we camped were several clear wa- 
ter lakes, covered with jonquils, which were in 
full bloom and very beautiful, resembling great- 
ly the Yellow Calla. As soon as we got clever- 
ly settled, Buster, our "Mascot," gathered up 
his fishing tackle and made a raid on the grass- 
hoppers, and in a very short time had enough 
fish for dinner, caught from the limpid waters 
of the Cache near by. While he was fishing, 
he discovered a very large green bull frog, and 
with a shot from our gun we silenced his sonor- 
ous voice forever. Cache Creek is noted for its 
immense frogs which would make a French- 
man's heart beat with the liveliest anticipa- 
tions of the good eating to follow the capture of 
one of the green monsters. 

After dinner, Mr. Frank Carmeyer took his 
gun and went out in quest of squirrels. He 
came in at 3 o'clock with five large fo* squir- 
rels, and immediately started out again saying, 
"The woods are just teeming with them." 
From 3 o'clock until sundown, the balance of 



ON A LARK SEBIN' THE WEST. 47 

the crowd was engaged in seining, as we had 
carried a one hundred foot seine with us, we 
caught an ample supply for our supper and 
breakfast. Frank came in loaded with squir- 
rels again, and Oh, such eating! A "Weary 
Willie" would have thought he had lost the art 
if he could have caught sight of our hungry 
crowd, as we were gathered around the camp 
fires, devouring in ravenous fashion the good 
things before us. After supper Mr. McElvy in- 
dulged in an Indian war dance, he said, to set- 
tle his supper, and for the general edification 
of those present, before retiring for the night. 
We all enjoyed a good night's rest and were 
astir by early daylight. 

Friday morning, Uncle Seborn Davenport was 
in a stew about his horses; they had pulled up 
the stake pins to which they were fastened, 
sometime during the night, and were gone, and 
had undoubtedly hit the trail back to Duncan, 
35 miles away. There was a drizzling rain fall- 
ing with appearances of getting harder, Uncle 
Seborn, mounted on Frank Carmeyer's little 
gray, with a quilt folded and strapped over the 
horse's back for a saddle, immediately after 



48 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

breakfast, struck out after his missing horses. 
Mr. Hazlewood and Mr. Carmeyer took their 
guns and went after the squirrels again while 
Buster, our "Mascot," and the "Colonel," with 
their fishing tackle made for the creek, Mr. 
Messer and Mr. McElvy keeping house. At 
noon Mr. Hazlewood and Mr. Carmeyer return- 
ed with their complement of game. At 4 o'- 
clock Uncle Seborn came in without his horses, 
utterly exhausted; he had been in the rain all 
morning, riding over a large portion of Bur- 
nett's big pasture, which is six or seven miles 
wide and thirty-five miles long. We were 
camped on the western edge of the pasture. 
Mr. Hazlewood then got astride the gray 
pony, and struck a bee line to the gate on the 
east side of the pasture six miles away, where 
we entered the morning before. Mr. Frank 
Carmeyer and Mr. Messer struck out in an- 
other direction afoot. They left camp at 4:30 
o'clock with blood in their eyes, determined to 
get the horses or perish in the attempt. Mr. 
Hazlewood returned at 7 o'clock with the horses, 
having found them seven miles away, hung 
up in the pasture fence which was wire. It 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 49 

was still raining some and the night was dark. 
We lighted onr Bull's Eye lantern, and hung it 
out on the top of a tall pecan tree at the edge 
of the woods, so the boys out afoot could see its 
friendly light from afar off on the prairies, and 
be guided thereby back to camp. About 9 o'- 
clock they came plodding in, footsore and weary, 
and also as wet as drowned rats in a sink hole, 
having tramped about fifteen miles. Mr. Mes- 
ser, the "tenderfoot," was about ready to yield 
up the ghost. We all certainly complimented 
him upon his endurance. 

Our crowd was augmented about dark by the 
arrival of another prairie schooner, loaded 
down to the gunwale with passengers who had 
been out several days, looking for the land cor- 
ners, which are the Blarney-stones of all home- 
seekers. They seem to think their future depends 
upon their finding and locating the corner stone, 
when perhaps not one out of every hundred 
who are thus spending their time, will be lucky 
enough to draw a claim; but it is that chance 
of winning that keeps them enthused, and 
shows plainly the propensity of the people of 
this great country to gamble. 



50 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

About 10 o'clock, the air became cool, the 
clouds drifted away, aud the stars peeped out, 
and again the combined party gathered around 
the campfire, and indulged in spinning yarns 
until after 11 o'clock. Uncle Seborn still held 
the leather medal presented to him the first 
night out, as being champion storyteller of the 
crowd. On arising the next morning, we dis- 
covered that the prairie schooner which an- 
chored near us the night before had broken her 
cable and drifted away. 

Not long after their departure, just as Old 
Sol was showing his shining face over the east- 
ern horizon, we discovered coming across the 
prairie, two lean, bony looking ponies, bearing 
upon their backs a long, lank man wearing a 
broad brimmed, flap-down straw hat, and two 
little boys, the latter aged about 8 and 10 years 
respectively; the man riding the clay-bank pony 
with flaxen mane and tail, and going in a swing- 
ing gait, looked in the distance like an old plan- 
tation negress cutting ginger bread for the 
pickaninnies, and the two boys were riding the 
little bay in a jogging trot, both little fellows 
occupying seats in the same saddle without any 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 51 

apparent inconvenience. To their saddles was 
fastened their camping and cooking outfit, or 
kit, as it is commonly called out here. The out- 
fit consisted of a long handled frying-pan, a 
rasher of bacon, and a little flour, and after 
they had drawn quite near, we could also see at- 
tached to the saddle the man was riding, what 
proved to be on closer inspection, some old dir- 
ty ragged looking quilts, which they used for 
sleeping purposes and protection from inclem- 
ent weather. The trio rode up and the man 
gave his name as Sabin, and made the state- 
ment that he had spent about seven or eight 
weeks in riding up and down, and around the 
whole of the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache 
country; with no one but the little boys for 
company, making their home or camp wherever 
night overtook them, sleeping under the pro- 
tecting branches of some friendly cotton-wood 
or sturdy old burr-oak, fishing from the waters 
of the numerous creeks, of which sport the lit- 
tle boys seemed to be particularly fond. The 
little fellows seemed to be in excellent health, 
and said they were enjoying their nomadic life. 
From the conversation I had with Mr. Sabin, I 



52 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

inferred that lie is from everywhere but here, 
and as soon as the opening is over, he will be 
from here also. I sized him up to be a typical 
"sooner" of the old-school type. The only use 
lie has for the one hundred and sixty acres of 
land is to sell it for a few dollars as soon as he 
has made his filing, and then clamor for anoth- 
er division of the Indian lands. 

Messrs. Hazlewood and Carmeyer were off to 
the woods again, and came in about 11 o'clock 
loaded down with squirrels. That being Mr. 
McElvy's birthday, we all took special pains 
with our dinner, and had everything done to a 
turn, and the old gentleman ate with the avidi- 
ty of one who could fully appreciate the efforts 
of those who had his entertainment uppermost 
in their minds; and he will, indeed, be fortu- 
nate if he can continue through life with the 
bounties of God bestowed upon him, as they 
were upon his 57th birthday. 

At 3:30 o'clock we pulled up stakes, and 
moved up Cache two miles to Horse Shoe Bend, 
and struck camp near the edge of the bottom 
where the timber lands and valley prairie come 
together. We were very close to the banks of 



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ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 55 

the creek, which are very precipitous and from 
25 to 30 feet above the water at its present low 
stage; the bottom there is entirely above high 
waters, and the soil is black as midnight, and 
six or seven feet deep, covered with timber of 
the following kinds, which I believe predomi- 
nate in all the bottom lands: Cotton-wood, 
burr oak, elm, and hackberry with some walnut 
and pecan. 

After establishing our camps, all of our 
crowd with our new-found friend, the "sooner," 
took the seine, and made a break for the blue 
waters of the creek; the boys plunged in, and 
began to make a haul, while Uncle Seborn and 
the Colonel followed along the steep banks, giv- 
ing advice and bossing generally, with Mr. Mc- 
Elvy, Buster, our "Mascot," and the "sooner's" 
boys along to carry the fish. We soon had 
about one hundred and fifty pounds of the fin- 
ny tribe in the toils of the seine, consisting of 
buffalo, drum, and perch. As we then had 
enough from which to make our selection, we 
made our way back to camp where supper was 
shortly served in grand style, the "sooner" 
proved to be a jewel in disguise, as he was an 



56 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

expert in seining, and the waters were never 
too deep for him to "tackle." We could hard- 
ly have gotten along without his services, and 
after our evening's repast, we were entertained 
by his recounting his experiences in the wild 
and woolly West; and I can say his experiences 
have been quite startling and varied, as he has 
been a "sooner" in nearly every State and 
"boom" town west of the Mississippi. 

About 11 :30 o'clock, we all tumbled in for the 
night, but as we had partaken very freely of the 
strong black coffee served for supper, and the 
night was so beautiful and the breeze was so de- 
lightful, 1 think it must have been 2 o'clock be- 
fore we were sleeping soundly. On the following 
morning, which was Sunday, we were all astir 
bright and early. Our breakfast was the last 
meal we had together on the verdant banks of 
dear old Cache. We made our start for Dun- 
can at 8 o'clock via Elm Springs, one of the 
many fake projected town sites of this new 
country, which is fifteen miles south of Lawton. 
Just as we were on the eve of leaving, Uncle 
Seborn mentioned something about a horrible 
dream he had during the night just past, and 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 57 

upon tlie fervent entreaty of our unsophisti- 
cated friend, Mr. Messer, he proceeded to relate 
to us the details of a most frightful battle he 
waged with a monster wampus. 

We arrived at Elm Springs at 9 o'clock. 
The springs, about fifteen in number, bubbling 
up from the foot of the craggy, jagged, rocks 
that crop out sheer and precipitous from the 
high prairie, or table land, are at the head of a 
draw about two miles from Cache creek. 

Leaving Elm Springs, we made a five miles 
drive to Big Beaver, across beautiful undulat- 
ing prairies with thousands of thorough-bred, 
sleek fat cattle grazing lazily over them. We 
arrived on the banks of Big Beaver at 10:30 
o'clock, crossed the creek back of a Comanche 
Indian's farm, which was wired in, effectually 
cutting us off as we thought from the open coun- 
try beyond. While we were debating as to the di- 
rection to take to iret out of our dilemma, w r e 
caught sight of a Comanche and his squaw in a 
two-horse wagon coming towards us in a break- 
neck gait, we waited for them until they came 
through the field to where we were. The old 
"Buck" would not talk, but he soon made us un- 



58 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

derstand by signs that lie did not want Ms wire 
fence cnt. We were not intending to cut the 
wire to get through; but he seemed to think so, 
and was very much excited over the matter un- 
til we finally made him understand that we 
would do nothing wrong. He then by making 
other signs directed us around his farm, and 
bidding him and his pretty squaw good-bye, we 
were soon out on the beautiful prairie lying be- 
tween Big and Little Beavers. 

We passed through the best belt of prairie 
I have seen in the new country, soil a red 
chocolate color, grass knee high, and of best 
quality. However, the lands to which I refer, 
are all allotted to the Indians, so it is useless 
for the pale face to linger over the beauties of 
that particular section. 

We crossed Little Beaver at 12:30 o'clock, 
made our last stop before our final run for Dun- 
can; we stopped there one hour and ate up the 
very last scrap of our supplies, and had to fall 
back on the kind hospital) ty of the captain of a 
prairie schooner which was anchored near by, 
for twenty-five cents worth of flour to make our 
bread for dinner. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 59 

After a hearty repast, Frank Carmeyer and 
I climbed into his light road wagon, leaving the 
other boys in with Uncle Seborn, and started 
on our last drive together, for that trip at least. 
I could not help a feeling of sadness stealing 
over me, thinking how soon we all should be 
parted, some of us to never see each other 
again; but I consoled myself by thinking that 
in the future, during our retrospective moments, 
we could find the happy associations of the trip 
standing boldly forth on the pages of our lives 
to remind us of the pleasant time spent together 
in the Comanche country before the developing 
hand of the white man had reached forth to 
destroy the beautiful works of nature. We had 
a pleasant trip to Duncan, bowling along over 
the prairies, which were dotted here and there 
with herds of cattle, grazing upon the boun- 
teous growth of mesquite and blue stem grass- 
es, that have so stoutly withstood the withering 
blast of the terrible drouth that has so damaged 
the whole South-west. 

Before closing this letter, I must tell you of 
a funny little incident that occurred this morn- 
ing, and I was the leading character in the 



60 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

corned}', which goes towards making up the 
scenes on the stage of life that is here being 
enacted. 

You know that everybody here is on the qui 
vive over the drawing which is now going on 
at El Keno, Okla. My newly made friends and 
I have spent a great deal of our time in the last 
few days talking over this exciting event, and 
of course, forecasting to the best ability of our 
occult minds, the probable results of our lucky 
stars. So this morning while I was lazily halt- 
ing between two opinions as to whether I would 
lower my own record for early rising and get up, 
or still cling to the enjoyable state of semi-con- 
sciousness bordering upon dreamland, I was 
suddenly brought to a decision instanter when 
I heard Frank Mayberry, the fourteen year old 
son of our landlady, say, "Mamma, one of our 
boarders has drawed a claim." Oh, the music 
there was in that boy's voice! and as I always 
had an ear for music, I was all ears then as I 
strained to catch every golden word, dropping 
like nuggets of pure gold from the boy's lips. 

While I was daring to hope that Dame For- 
tune, the erratic goddess of the world's desire, 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 61 

would cast her favored smiles upon me, and I 
would be the lucky boarder referred to by the 
young hopeful, there was still something good 
in store for me even if I should fail to be the 
winner of the prize, as we participants in the 
land lottery and fellow boarders had formed a 
solemn compact, that should one or more of us 
be so fortunate as to draw a winning number he 
or they should stand the treats to the losing 
members of the band. But my pedal extremi- 
ties hit the floor with something of a thud when 
I heard the answer to Mrs. Mayberry's follow- 
ing question: "Which one of the boarders was 
it, Frank?" and as I caught the reply, "Why, it 
was Mr. Milam," something like an electric 
shock seemed to permeate every fibre of my 
body, and in the mad rush I made to adorn my- 
self in my accustomed faultless attire — being 
a member of the homeseekers' 400 — I got my feet 
mismatched as to shoes, and after a desperate 
but short struggle with a shirt that opened be- 
hind, I succeeded in getting it on the wrong 
side before, and never discovered my mistake 
until I had made several futile efforts to ar- 
range a tie in a double bow-knot at the back of 



62 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

my neck. However, I was in too great a hurry 
to correct any errors there might be in the make- 
up of my toilet; but reaching for my veritable 
straw, I jammed it down on my head, and mak- 
ing about three strides, I hit the middle of the 
street on a run for the post office, where the 
Wichita, Kansas, Daily Eagle is on sale every 
morning (this paper always gives the most cor- 
rect list of the drawing). When I arrived at the 
post office all the papers had been sold, and 
there were hundreds of half crazy men cursing 
the news dealers for not supplying the demand. 
I tried to purchase a copy from several parties, 
offering as much as fifty cents; but I was not 
the only "Ninny on the beach." There were 
others. Finally I found ensconced in a narrow 
stairway a young man (whom I later found out 
was a school teacher by the name of Griffeth 
from either Limestone or Freestone Counties, 
Tex.) of pleasing appearance, he was scanning 
rapidly a copy of that much coveted Eagle, and 
upon my offer to buy his paper at a Klondike 
price, he politely informed me that he was 
about through with it, and when he was, I could 
have it gratis. I thanked him profusely, and in 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 63 

a short time I had the desired object of my soul 
in my possession ; with nervous hands I hurried- 
ly turned the pages, until finally running down 
the columns of names with feverish eyes, I found 
the name Milam. But what is this I behold? 
Oh Lord, save me from the cruel hand of fate! 
Do my eyes deceive me? Are they playing me 
false in this, the most crucial moment of my 
life? Oh, if it could only be a deceptive trick 
of the vision! but 'tis not. It is Milam I see 
printed in seemingly great expanding letters. 
Yes, that name that lives in history, and has 
never trailed in the dust. But where, Oh where 
is Burt J. Milam? Look along the streets of 
Duncan, and when you find the most abject, 
woe-begone, down trodden looking object of all 
this struggling and excited stream of humanity, 
just stop right there, for that would be he. To 
bring this harrowing tale of woe to a sudden 
stop, that may jar your nerves, I must say it 
was Edward W. Milam, of Comanche, Okla., 
that won the farm, and not your better half, 
Burt J. 

Noav don't become at all discouraged, dear 



64 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

wife, for we may make a closer miss in the next 
turn of the wheel. 

Will write you again in a few days and tell 
you of my trip to Lawton. 

Devotedly, 

B. J. MILAM. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. ^5 

LETTER NO. 4. 



A Trip to Mt, Scott and The Opening of 

Lawton. 



THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW. 

(And Others.) 

There was an honest farmer 

Who hailed from Arkansaw, 
And landed hopeful in Fort Sill 

To register for a draw. 

He had thought the matter over, 

And joined the mighty jam 
That were there to gamble on the green 

Like Mary's little lamb. 

He viewed the situation 

From every point at hand, 
Concluded he was lucky 

And could win a piece of land. 

When the Company organizers 

Saw the farmer's face benign, 
They sweetly murmured, "You want to register? 

Gome join a Co. and get in line." 

Up stepped the honest farmer, 

And doffing his old "straw," 
Said, "I've tackled jest heaps o' games 

Now, I'll tackle the game o' draw". 



66 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

With cautious steps, he made his way 
Straight up to the registering booth, 

And when his final task was done 

Thought he'd worked it mighty smooth. 

The farmer looked supremely happy, 

As through the crowd he pushed with care, 

Grasping his legally signed certificate 
Triumphantly waved it in the air. 

For days and iays he loitered round, 

And watched the restless thousands come, 

And read their doom in failure drear, 
And wondered at their mighty sum. 

While watching that increasing throng 
Of suckers like him without protection, 

He marveled then what chance he had 
To win a quarter section. 

The farmer's grub was running low, 
His stock of nerve was playing out, 

While his pair of grass-fed bronchos 
Could scarcely get about. 

Then Uncle Sam cleared Fort Sill reserve 

Through his military might, 
And every one to show his nerve 

Squatted around the Lawton Site. 

"This change o' base" the farmer cried, 

"Just plays into my hand," 
And through the motley crowd espied 

The Gambler's visage bland. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 67 

He slyly watched the shell-game man, 
And quickly spotted the winning shell, 

But when he saw his lucre van — 
He kicked and said— "Oh! Well. 

"Gosh dang! the time has come for me 
To play these schemes with all my might, 

So I'll just play a "wheel" or two 
With the boomers of a new town site. 

"If things go on as they are going now, 

I'll stand a darned poor show 
To get a slice o' Injin land, 

An' I'll be out a lot o' dough. 

"I guess I'll stick it out, 

And buck the whole blamed thing 
So I can show to Liza Ann 

The care she gets beneath my wing." 

Then all the grafters worked their schemes, 
And reduced this honest farmer's purse 

Until it looked like thirty cents 

And he filled the air with many a curse. 

At length the time for drawing came 

When the fate of all was known, 
Then it was this honest farmer 

Uttered many a piteous moan. 

For the last turn and call had come, 

And the game was then played out. 
"Oh what shall I say to Liza Ann?'' 

He yelled with a fiendish shout. 



68 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

For now he had played the whole layout, 
And even the town site scheme had busted. 

And as he mentally scanned the past 
He with himself became disgusted. 

"When I get home and try to explain 

To my own sweet Liza Ann, 
There certainly will be h — 1 to pay 

'Bout this game with Uncle Sam. 

If ever agin I want a game 

When I get back to Liza and her shanty , 
Dear Uncle Sam can keep his land, 

An' I'll play a smaller ante." 

So hitching up his ponies 

To his old ramshackle schooner, 
He headed back to Arkansaw, 

Never more to be a "sooner." 

Duncan, I. T., August 8, 1901. 

Mrs. Moelie Milam, 
Lufkin, Texas. 

Dear Moleie: — Since writing you a history 
of my five days' trip into and through the mid- 
dle and southern portions of the Lawton dis- 
trict of the neAV lands opening up for settle- 
ment, and composing the new County of Co- 
manche; I took a rest of six days in Duncan, 
before I succeeded in getting a crowd to make 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 69 

the trip with mc that had been my heart's great- 
est desire ever since my arrival in this country, 
which was a trip to the Wichita Mountains and 
especially Mt. Scott, the highest peak of all the 
range. 

On Sunday morning, Aug. 4th, I had every- 
thing in shape with Mr. Pounder and his splen- 
did team of black mules, new wagon, covered 
with a heavy 10-oz. duck wagon-sheet, and three 
good spring seats, engaged for the trip, with the 
following named persons making up the party 
accompanying me, all fellow boarders with me 
in Duncan. 

Mr. Frank Messer I will mention first as he 
was the only one of the party with me on my five 
days' trip, who was with me on the Mt. Scott 
trip, and of course, by priority entitled to first 
place of mention in this letter, and whom we ad- 
dressed as "Georgia." from the fact that he had 
told us, in strict confidence, to be sure, (which 
upon the honor of all of us as gentlemen, shall 
always be held inviolate) that he had a sweet 
little gazelle of a sweetheart back in the good 
old State of Georgia, worth a cool ten thousand 
in her own right and title, who was even then 



70 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

waiting longingly with open arms for his return, 
and to use George's vernacular, durned if he 
didn't think the girl and the ten thousand dol- 
lar scheme beat Uncle Sam's lottery all to hoi- 
low. You see Frank was one of us unfortu- 
nates that "bucked" up against the great na- 
tional game of chance and lost out. Next, I 
will introduce Mr. Benj. Keeling, of Springtown, 
Parker County, Texas. Mr. Keeling was ad- 
dressed on this trip as "Johnson Grass." This 
name was bestowed upon him by the crowd 
while killing time in Duncan. He had tried to 
persuade Mr. Messer to give up the new coun- 
try, marry the Georgia girl, buy his (Keeling' s) 
farm in Parker County, Texas, and settle down 
for life near the thriving neighborhood post of- 
fice of SpringtoAvn. In the meantime, while 
Keeling held the innocent Messer under the 
baneful influence of his smooth tongue, the rest 
of us were trying to fathom the great interest he 
was taking in our credulous young friend. How- 
ever, we had to wait only a short time when in 
an unguarded moment, Keeling divulged the 
fact that there were fifteen acres of Johnson 
grass on his farm, and the reason it was not 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 71 



< 



growing from the outside limits of his farm, and 
reaching to the center was — that for six long- 
years he had battled against its encroachments 
by day, and lay awake nights, trying to devise 
means to check its growth. It was a fortunate 
thing for Messer, our unsuspecting friend, that 
we discovered this perfidy of Keeling in time 
to save him from a terrible fate. We spent 
some time discussing an appropriate name to 
apply to Keeling (the State of Texas has some 
drastic laws anent the cultivation of Johnson 
grass) as we did not want his true identity 
to go out to the world while in our company, 
and as we could not think of anything meaner 
or more ignoble, we just called him "Johnson 
Grass" and to this name he answered as long 
as our little band existed. Now allow me to in- 
troduce my warm-hearted friend, "Lady from 
New Mexico." Hold! my good wife, don't be- 
come alarmed, but calm thyself while I explain. 
The person here alluded to is A. W. Wells of 
Peaster, Texas, and a bigger-hearted, truer fel- 
low never lived. While narrating to us a short 
history of a stay of nearly two years in New 
Mexico, in which narration his misapplication 



72 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

of the term "Lady," as applied by himself to 
acquaintances of his in the rough-and-ready 
mining camp of Captain, gave rise to a great 
deal of merriment, and we there and then ap- 
plied to him the name "Lady from New Mexico," 
and to that Dame alone would he respond dur- 
ing our stay together. Mr. H. A. Mothershead 
of Stephenville, Texas, was the patriarch of our 
party, and was called and answered to the 
name of "Texas," and as he was a very moral, 
modest, and retiring gentleman in his nature, 
his benign influence acted as a check to hold us 
wayward and giddy young fellows back in our 
rudeness, and of course nothing but choice and 
elegant language was used in the presence of 
our venerable friend, "Texas." And last but 
not least, in the estimation of my companions 
of this trip, I trust, I will mention "Lightning 
Rod Agent;" sorry am I indeed, to have to try 
to account to you for this most miserable sobri- 
quet applied to me by my present comrades. It 
came about in this way. The first evening 
while we all were eating our supper together at 
our boarding house, only a short while after 
the most of us had met for the first time in our 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 73 

lives, even before we knew each other's names, 
"Johnson Grass" had the temerity to show his 
usual stock of cheek by saying to me that he 
had certainly seen me somewhere before. I an- 
swered that perhaps he had, as I had traveled 
considerably over the State of Texas; but little 
dreaming of the slanderous charge he was yet 
to bring against me. After supper when we 
were holding our powwow, and were enjoying 
our evening smoke, to the uttermost astonish- 
ment of all present, "Johnson Grass" jumped up 
and yelled, "I have it! I have it!" We all gath- 
ered anxiously around him, very much concern- 
ed as to what it was he had, thinking perhaps 
he might possibly have a severe attack of colic, 
superinduced by gormandizing upon the boun- 
teous supply of the good wholesome food fur- 
nished us by our kind landlady, Mrs. Mayberry, 
and of which I can say, he was distressingly 
fond (the food). He finally calmed down 
enough to say that he had just located me; that 
he had seen me two or three years ago, selling 
lightning rods in Parker County, Texas, and had 
known me very well there; but could not recall 
my name. Having no proof with Avhich I could 



74 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

satisfactorily refute Ms slanderous statements, 
I thought it best to humor the matter, and ap- 
parently reluctantly admitted that I was the 
party he presumed I was, so right there and 
then, was applied to me the appellation of 
"Lightning Rod Agent" and to this I answered 
throughout our trip. However, in a day or so, 
"Johnson Grass" discovered he was mistaken in 
my identity, though after it was too late to re- 
pair the terrible injury he had done me. 

My object in thus detailing to you so minute- 
ly the jovial good nature of the individuals 
who made up the personnel of our party, is to 
show you the good feeling of fellowship that ex- 
isted among all classes who made up the enor- 
mous crowd that were playing Uncle Sam's 
wheel of fortune for a chance at a 1-4 section of 
the public domain (?). On my first trip out to 
Fort Sill to register, where there were from two 
to four thousand registering each day, I was 
most forcibly impressed by the sparkling good 
nature depicted in every countenance and not a 
word did I hear in anger, or in dissension of any 
kind whatsoever. Though thousands elbowed 
and jostled each other in their efforts to hold 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 75 

their jxlaces in their respective registering com- 
panies, and get ahead of some poor fellow crea- 
ture who was pushing his way through life at a 
sloAver rate, it was all done in good cheer, and I 
thought the happiest faces I ever saw were the 
faces composing the aforesaid companies, as 
they jammed and crowded each other for a place 
at the registering booths, cracking their jokes, 
and making sallies at their comrades whom 
they had only just met, and perhaps would nev- 
er see or meet again. 

We left Duncan at 6:30 o'clock, on the main 
traveled Duncan and Fort Sill road. It was 
a beautiful day with a pleasant southwest 
breeze. We crossed Stage Stand, Kock Creek, 
and Little and Big Beaver creeks. When about 
twenty-five miles out we left the main road, 
and took a new road which bears more to the 
north, and enters Fort Sill over an iron bridge, 
which spans Cache creek. 

We had been traveling over high rolling prai- 
ries all day, and at 3:30 o'clock we arrived at a 
point where the level prairie terminates in rug- 
ged, precipitous cliffs, overhanging the valley 
of Cache creek. There we stopped the wagon, 



76 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

and walked out to the end of a promontory, 
lying to our left, and extending something like 
four hundred yards in length, and ending in a 
sharp point, flat on top, containing, I should 
think, about three or four acres of level ground, 
covered with blue stem and mesquite grasses; 
the extreme point is fully one hundred feet 
higher than the valley below. I stood upon a 
large pile of rocks on the point of the promon- 
tory, or mesa, and took a long, delightful look 
at the beautiful panorama that lay before my 
eyes. Cache creek, fringed with a narrow bor- 
der of beautiful green, with adjacent valleys 
spreading out on each side until lost in the em- 
brace of the majestic arms of the prairie, made 
a lovely picture, and yon could hardly tell where 
one begins and the other ends. Five miles 
southwest, I could see Lawton in its almost em- 
bryonic state, a sea of tents, looking in the dis- 
tance like a flock of white sea birds resting in 
a safe haven of retreat after a flight of many 
weary miles, and historic old Fort Sill directly 
to the west, perched upon a gently rising hill, 
and like all places of its kind, now presents that 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 77 

sleepy appearance which causes a feeling of en- 
nui to steal over you in spite of yourself. 

Leaving this point of interest that I shall 
never forget, we entered the valley, and just 
before reaching Fort Sill, passed through the 
most extensive prairie dog village I have seen 
in all this country. They seem to be perfectly 
gentle, for being on the Government Reserve, 
they are protected by the soldiers instead of 
being shot and destroyed, and consequently, 
having been protected for years, they don't 
know what it is to fear the destroying hands 
of those who would wantonly shoot them down 
in cruel sport. They certainly presented a 
cunning appearance perched upon the little 
hillock at the entrance to their burrows, and at 
a yelp from the sentr}^ that is always on guard, 
they would make a dive downward and disap- 
pear from sight; but only for a few moments, 
when their curiosity would overcome their tim- 
idity, and they would all soon be out again, 
assuming their previous positions upon the 
little mounds, ready for another dive into the 
earth, at the slightest alarm signal from the 
ever- vigilant guard. 



78 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

Just before arriving at Fort Sill, we crossed 
the Marlowe, Bush Springs, and Lawton wag- 
on roads, and a sight was presented to our 
view that perhaps we will never witness again. 
Just as far as the eye could see along the 
roads, in either direction, was a solid, unbrok- 
en line of vehicles of every description, from 
the most dilapidated, old ram-shackle prairie 
schooner, to the latest rubber-tired, ball-bear- 
ing, light-running road wagon, with occasion- 
ally a horseman, dashing along at a swinging 
gait, and two or three were noted afoot. I 
know the question naturally arises in your 
mind, What means this anxious, wondrous 
throng, and where can they all be going upon 
the same errand bent? The story is soon told. 
Just breathe the magic name, "Lawton," and 
you have the wonderful secret of the fairies 
unfolded before you. They have drunk to the 
dregs the full and overflowing cup of anticipa- 
tion, and I am forced to make the prediction 
that there will be thousands who will drain a 
deeper potation from the bitter cup of realiza- 
tion. 

We arrived at the big store in Fort Sill, in 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 79 

whicli the post office is located, at 5:30 o'clock. 
After making inquiries for mail, we left for an 
eight-mile drive to a point on Medicine creek, 
where our driver informed us we would find 
the best spring in all this country. Medicine 
creek enters Cache creek, just above where 
Fort Sill sewers empty, and "Johnson Grass" 
there perpetrated upon our unsuspecting 
crowd one of his most execrable witticisms. He 
wanted to know if any of us knew why it was 
called Medicine creek. We all gave it up after 
several futile efforts to clear up the matter, 
and he thereupon informed us that it was 
called Medicine because it helped to work out 
the filth that was deposited in Cache creek 
from the sewers of Fort Sill. 

Shortly after leaving Fort Sill, we crossed 
the target grounds, and striking into the foot- 
hills of the Wichita Mountains, we entered 
what is known as the dry belt, which stretches 
out through the western portion of Comanche 
County, through Greer, on through the Pan 
Handle, west to the Kocky Mountains. The 
grass is a short mesquite, with a growth of 



80 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

mesquite trees scattered over the prairies and 
valleys. 

Five or six miles from Fort Sill, we came to 
the settlement of the Apache Indians, located 
along the east and west hanks of Medicine 
creek, where the valley is about one mile wide, 
and the land appeared to be very rich. The 
Indian's summer home, however, is in his teepee 
about a dozen families in each village. (The 
Indian's summer home, however, is in his teepee 
or wigwam along the banks of the numerous 
clear water creeks of the country.) The houses, 
as near as I could tell, consisted of two rooms 
12x14 with an 8-foot hall between, making ap- 
parently, a very comfortable home, and pre- 
sented a very picturesque and quaint appear- 
ance, nestling snugly up against the rugged 
foot-hills of the Wichita Mountains. Strange 
to say, these Indians, the most recent tribe to 
come under the protecting arms of our 
Government, and also a tribe that proved to be 
the most bloodthirsty, and the most difficult 
to run down and capture while under the gen- 
eralship of that cunning old warrior, Geroni- 
mo, (who, by the way, is now in Buffalo, New 



—wmri 






E- 



<D 



<D 



s6 

Kg 

• f-H 

S-l Q 

2 a) 

§^ 

GO'S 

rj CtJ 


o 

ft 



ON A LARK SBEIN' THE WEST. 83 

York, attending- the Pan American Exposition) 
clearly show by the manner in which they cul- 
tivate their farms that they are the hardest 
workers, and the most intelligent of all the 
Indians living in this new country. They cut 
their hair short, and the most of them are 
neatly clad, and seem to be making an effort to 
become citizens in good standing. I noticed 
quite a number of farms of several hundred 
acres in corn, which would have been exceed- 
ingly good if there had been more rain. The 
truck patches around the houses were well 
planted and showed good cultivation. In fact, 
the Apache is to be complimented upon his 
efforts to become self-sustaining and useful. 

While passing through the reservation, 
memories of the past were quickly resurrected, 
and brought vividly to my mind the first time 
in life that I ever heard of the Apache In- 
dians. It was in 1882. I had taken the A. T. 
& S. F. train at Albuquerque, New Mexico, for 
Las Vegas; leaving the former place about S 
o'clock in the A. M., we arrived at Wallace, a 
small town, about 10 o'clock. As the train ran 
into the station, the passengers aboard were 



84 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

struck with the war-like appearance things 
presented in and about the little town. Every- 
body from a five-year-old "Muchacho" up to the 
typical western cow-boy was loaded down with 
Winchesters, pistols, and all other arms 
known to western warfare, and there was an 
expression of terror, intermingled with reck- 
lessness, and dare-devil desperation, written 
upon every countenance. Upon a hurried in- 
quiry, we learned that the Apache Indians 
were then within about thirty-five miles of 
Wallace, and would likely attack the town 
sometime during the dav or before the soldiers 
could arrive. A runner, riding a swift and 
sure-footed mountain pony, had dashed in ear- 
ly that morning, and made the startling an- 
nouncement that five or six sheep-herders had 
been murdered and scalped the morning be- 
fore, and the report was current when he left, 
that the Indians composing the war party had 
left in the direction of Wallace. The citizens 
of the town at the time of our arrival were en- 
gaged in forming and throwing out picket 
lines, so as to not be taken by surprise by the 
blood-thirsty red skins, the Geronimo gang. 




GERONIMO, 
Chief of The Apache Indians— The Human Tiger. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 87 

I saw by the daily papers the next day that 
the Indians had come down within about 20 
miles of the town. 

Just after leaving the Apache village, we 
passed near the foot of Signal Mountain. This 
mountain, though now will be passed with only 
a casual glance by the ordinary traveler, is 
quite a point of interest to the close observer, 
who connects history and the beauties of na- 
ture together, thereby blending the ideas of 
the mind into beautiful word pictures of the 
soul. Perched upon the very highest pinnacle 
of the sugar-loaf peak, looking like a black 
speck floating in the azaire skies above, just rest- 
ing carelessly on a golden ray of sunlight up in 
the heavens, stands the old watch-tower that 
was used in the earlv davs of Fort Sill. One 
standing by the Watch-house with a powerful 
field glass, was enabled to sweep the country 
at a single glance in every direction, and de- 
tect any movement of the enemy in time to no- 
tify by signal the Army post at Fort Sill. 

At 7: 30 o'clock P. M. we arrived at the spring- 
Mr. Pounder had been telling us about, where 



88 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

rocky bluffs overhang the stream, and about fif- 
teen feet up the side of the bank, above the bed 
of the creek, we found a spring gushing bold- 
ly forth from crevices of immense granite rocks; 
the water I found to be the coldest and purest 
I have drunk in this country. We had just 
gotten our camp fire made, and were prepar- 
ing to get our supper when we espied coming 
around a little clump of woods near the creek, 
an old, dilapidated, antiquated, wind-shaken, 
knuckle-jointed, outlandish vehicle, that in 
some decade long past, had been brought out, 
and announced to the world as a hack. The 
modus operandi of locomotion for this old out- 
of-date rattle-trap, was brought about by two 
knock-kneed, spavined, half-blind, superannu- 
ated animals, belonging to the avcII known fam- 
ily of quadrupeds of equine extraction called 
the horse, and in the flickering and fading even- 
ing light, the approaching outfit took on the ap- 
pearance of a hideous phantom bearing down 
upon us, and if we could have gotten a good 
view of the driver of this ghostly equipage, I 
do verily believe we would have all dashed from 
our camp, and allowed him to capture at least 




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ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 91 

several dollars' worth of groceries, if not our 
entire outfit. In a few minutes this hard- 
looking aggregation of God's extravagancies 
hove to, and cast anchor within about forty 
yards of our camp, and then laying aside all 
rules of etiquette, the driver made his "bone 
racks" safe to a stake pin, and paid us a social 
call, and incidentally to get a chunk of fire, and 
my God! what curse hast thou visited upon the 
poor fellow? The ugliest and most uncanny 
thing I ever saw, that was supposed to be of hu- 
man form or semblance, his ears or what should 
have been, grew flat to his head, what might be 
termed his nose was only a flat ridge in the mid- 
dle of his face, and two little round holes just 
above what was supposed to be his mouth, 
completed his much deformed nasal appendage, 
his mouth, a small aperture lending a degree 
of hideousness to his appearance, was about 
the size of a silver quarter; and without lips, 
with two teeth, or more correctly speaking 
tasks, in the lower jaw, rather to one side and 
quite a little space between them, with one 
task above exactly over the space between the 
two below. It seems he had been blessed with 



92 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

this arrangement at least, so as to be enabled 
to hold in his pursed-up month, an old clay 
pipe with a short stem, and an ancient odor of 
strong tobacco about it. This is a true picture 
of this freak of God's monstrosities in human 
form. He wore an old broad brimmed straw 
hat, that showed the hard service of at least 
three summers and as many winters, a double- 
breasted blue woolen shirt, a pair of (had been 
at one time) blue overalls; but now shirt and 
overalls had long since lost their virgin color 
of factory origin, and wholly disappeared in a 
mixture of grease and dirt. Socks — lie had 
none. His feet, however, were encased in a 
pair of heavy run-down brogan shoes; these 
completed the attire of this queer and outland- 
ish looking character, with the addition of a 
big Colt's 45, which he carried stuck down in 
the waistband of his overalls, and at which he 
was continually hitching to the sad discomfort 
of the nervous temperaments of our entire 
crowd. He after a while took the hint from 
us that we were busy, so he got his "chunk" of 
fire and went back to his camp, and we all 
breathed easier after his departure; but not 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 93 

long, for as soon as we had eaten our supper, 
and settled around the camp fire for our usual 
powwow, this travesty of human form made his 
appearance again. 

We soon found out that he was nomadic in 
his mode of living, and was a wanderer up and 
down the earth. For three years, he had been 
living in the Wichita range of mountains, se- 
cluding himself from the eyes of his fellow crea- 
tures, and rarely visiting white settlements, and 
those visits were onlv at times when he would 
have to buy a little flour, bacon, and coffee. He 
also informed us that he had in his hack a good 
Winchester, and we inferred from his conversa- 
tion that there had been times when his weap- 
ons of defense had rendered him valuable ser- 
vice; as to why they had been called into 
service he did not say, and through politeness, 
(forced however) we refrained from asking in 
regard to the why and wherefore in the matter, 
and he was allowed to tell just as much as he 
thought proper. 

"Lady from New Mexico" made a tough talk 
about killing a man in the mining regions of 
New Mexico, and learned while there, never to 



94 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

go without his Colt's trusty 45 on his person. 
Oh! it was a good, big talk, and duly appreciat- 
ed by his companions. "Johnson Grass" in his 
cool, calculating manner, detailed a little oc- 
currence he was mixed up in down in Texas, 
where he was forced to wins a man with the 
Winchester lie had with him on this trip, which 
was then lying in our wagon. "Texas" related 
some hair breadth escapes he had passed 
through while making gun plays in Stephens- 
ville, when it was one of the "tough" proposi- 
tions of the Texas frontier. "Georgia" had no 
blood curdling personal experiences to relate; 
but he sat in utter silence thinking deeply of 
his ten thousand dollar prize awaiting him back 
in Georgia, wondering if he would be spared to 
look upon her beautiful form and loving coun- 
tenance again, or would he that night have to 
shed his young life's blood upon the banks of 
Medicine creek, ruthlessly cut clown by the hand 
of the uncouth creature, in whose loathsome 
presence he then Avas. "Lightning Eod Agent" 
was sitting on the ground, leaning back against 
a valise, with his eyes cast heavenward, not car- 
ried a way in admiration of the starry firmament 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 95 

nor allowing his mind to dwell upon the bean- 
ties of the Milky Wav; but was earnestly en- 
gaged in calling upon the Lord for help in that 
the time of his greatest need, and if he were 
going to lend "Lightning Rod Agent'" Divine as- 
sistance, please to do so right there and then. 
In our state of terror we lost sight of the 
driver of our prairie schooner. Something was 
said about him, and "Lady from New Mexico" 
instituted a search for him, and he was finally 
located in the wagon, wrapped up head and 
ears in an extra wagon-sheet one of the boys 
had brought along to sleep on. "Lady from 
New Mexico" gently unwound him (The opera- 
tion reminded me of the investigation of a new- 
ly discovered mummy from the Catacombs of 
Egypt.) and the first words he uttered after re- 
gaining a good breath were, "Is it still here?" 
Being informed that it was, and we had been 
successful in running our bluffs and the dan- 
ger point was passed, Mr. Pounder crawled out 
of the wagon, and joined us around the fire, 
where soon a motion was made and carried 
that it was bed time, and our unwelcome visit- 
or bade us good-night, and went back to his 



96 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

quarters. He had met us, and if he had only 
known it, we were "his'n" for the only weapons 
of any description in our entire outfit was a 22- 
calibre target rifle belonging to "Texas" and a 
nickel-plated pistol, paper cap variety, that 
was in the valise of "Lightning Rod Agent" 
which he was carrying to his little son Ralph, 
in Lufkin, Texas. 

This description is not overdrawn, and in re- 
gard to the feelings of fear and uneasiness of 
the crowd, I will say that they were not feign- 
ed; but were more real than we were willing to 
admit even to each other at the time. 

Having become somewhat reconciled to our 
situation, we all turned in, but as for myself, 
not to sleep, for I can truthfully say I had the 
hardest bed I ever tried to sleep on, or it was 
ever my lot to occupy. I didn't have the tall 
prairie grass; but was down on the flat bare 
ground with nothing but the thickness of the 
wagon-sheet between my body and the ground, 
which was rather rocky, and kept me "spoon- 
ing" until my back and both sides had 
about worn out, and my whole anatomy wos 
just on the eve of collapsing, when a sharp peal 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST, 97 

of thunder was heard followed by a flash of 
lightning; then in a few minutes a cool moun- 
tain shower came upon us, and we were forced 
to seek shelter in the wagon; and we sat up 
and nodded until early daylight the morning of 
the 5th. The night's storm had passed away, 
the atmosphere was cool, the mountain clouds 
were scurrying through the air thick and fu- 
rious, making one unaccustomed to the moun- 
tains think that in just a few minutes there 
would be a down-pour of rain. 

Breakfast over, — and after a touching fare- 
well to our never-to-be-forgotten friend of pit- 
iable infirmities, we were off for about a three 
miles drive, still going up Medicine creek to 
the nearest point of the base of Mt. Scott. That 
was quite an interesting portion of our trip; 
the valley kept getting narrower as the peaks 
and bald knobs of the main range of mountains, 
encroached upon the margin of the creek, until 
finally it was picked up and placed upon the 
fair bosom of those beautiful mountains, where 
it is succored by the ever-living waters of the 
rippling springs flowing from the breasts of 
the almost numberless peaks. After we had 



98 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

traveled nearly three miles, and the road had 
been getting more rocky and rough all along, 
we had to abandon the wagon. Mr. Pounder 
stayed with his team. "Texas" took his 22-cal- 
ibre and a bundle of lines and fishing hooks, 
and made for the clear waters of Medicine; as 
lie was too old and stiff to attempt such an ar- 
duous task as climbing Mt. Scott, and a wise 
decision he made too, for he would have failed 
utterly. "Johnson Grass" "Lady from New 
Mexico, "Georgia," and "Lightning Rod 
Agent" proceeded up the narrow defiles of the 
rocky gorges leading up to the foot of Mt. 
Scott, arrived there and began the ascent at 
7: 30 o'clock. Looking up to the top from where 
we started, the distance did not appear great. 
"Georgia," "Lady from New Mexico," and 
"Johnson Grass" thought it would only take 
thirty or forty minutes, at the most, to climb 
to the top ; but I, "Lightning Rod Agent," "had 
been there before," and related some of my ex- 
periences in mountain climbing in the Rockies 
of Montana and Colorado. 

\ I had gone out from Ogden, Utah, on the 
rtah Northern Ry., then building to the new 



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ON A LA.RK SEBIN' THE WEST. 101 

mining camp of Butte. Its terminal point was 
Dillon. From there 1 took the old regulation 
mountain stage out to Virginia City, at one 
time the Eldorado of all the West. We left 
Dillon early in the morning, and arrived at our 
point of destination after a sixty mile drive 
over corduroy roads, through gulches, and over 
the craggy foot hills of the adjacent Rockies. 
Upon our arrival at the leading hostelry of that 
disintegrating old mining town of happy rem- 
iniscences, we all sought the bath accommoda- 
tions, and a general cleaning up followed. We 
soon had supper, and ate with appetites like 
an ostrich, supper over, a smoke; then a unani- 
mous movement towards our rooms to seek the 
rest that was much needed by all. 

It Avas in the early part of August, 1881. The 
mountain weather at that season was getting 
quite cool, and during the first night of our 
stay in that high altitude, there was a nice fall 
of snow up in the Bannock range of mountains, 
about twenty-five miles west from Virginia 
City. Arising early the next morning, it was 
not long before I was enabled to discover 
through the dawning light of the day, the white 



102 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

sheet of snow which had been thrown over the 
silent mountains during the night just past. I 
thought how nice it would be to walk out to the 
mountains, draped in their lovely mantle of 
white, bathe my hands and face in the beauti- 
ful snoAV, breathe in the cooling, frosty breath 
of heaven, and drink to my heart's content, the 
healthy ozone of the mountain air, and return 
for breakfast, thoroughly refreshed; and I 
would, at the same time, enjoy the pleasure of 
stealing a march on my fellow travelers of the 
day before. So quietly slipping out, and strik- 
ing a swinging gait, I was soon out of the town 
limits, and as I thought had a large portion of 
the distance covered to the point in view. 

After I had walked and walked until I was 
becoming leg- weary, I looked at my watch to 
see how the time had been passing, and was 
nearly paralyzed when I discovered that I had 
been walking for nearly two hours, and there 
were the mountains covered with white, cool, 
enticing snow, standing up like they were ready 
to engulf me, no farther away than when 1 
started, of course, but apparently no nearer. 1 
then made the discovery that calculating dis- 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 103 

tance by the eye in the mountain regions was a 
very serious matter, and the "Tender-foot" was 
likely to be led astray. I made a sneak back 
to the hotel, and I never divulged the secret 
until the following year when I was spending 
the summer touring Colorado, the "Switzer- 
land of America," then tlier^e was a crowd (my- 
self included) that left Leadville, Colo., to stage 
it over to Georgetown via Breckenridge and 
Aspen. We crossed over Mesquite range, and 
as we began the ascent of Alpine pass, several 
of us got out and made a cut across the moun- 
tains to a point where we could intercept the 
stage, as it had to make a long circuitous route 
in order to reach the point of interception, and 
the distance by the near cut that we were mak- 
ing only seemed a stone's throw away. 

Shortly after leaving the stage, I caused a 
good deal of merriment among our crowd, 
when we came to a small mountain rivulet, all 
the members of the party jumped lightly across 
it, and to their utter astonishment on looking 
back, they saw me down on the opposite bank 
from them unfastening and pulling off my 
shoes, naturally they wanted to know what I 



104 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

was doing, I then related my experience in 
measuring distance with my eyes in the moun- 
tains of Montana, and told them that while I 
was considered a fairly good jumper, I was will- 
ing, under the circumstances, for them to carry 
off all the honors; but as far as I was concern- 
ed, I was going to wade the stream, if I could, 
and swim it if I had to, for it might be, for all 
I knew, an immense big river. 

When we arrived at the point where we were 
going to wait for the stage, we found that the 
stage had been waiting for us for nearly an 
hour; we just fell into it utterly exhausted, and 
there was not one in the crowd that could ever 
under any circumstances be prevailed upon to 
make another trip like the one they had just 
made. Only just another deception in measur- 
ing mountain distances, that was all, and long 
before we reached the top of Mt. Scott, the boys 
were willing to admit their mistake. 

On account of my weight, the boys were very 
kind to me, and would not go far until they 
would make me sit down and rest; I could go 
only a short distance when I would become so 
exhausted that I would fall all in a heap at the 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 105 

first suggestion of a rest, and a hard time I 
would have getting to a normal respiratory 
condition again; there were no easy stages in 
our ascent, as it was always a full head of steam 
up, and a continued upward pull, with the phys- 
ical tensions strained to their utmost capacity, 
climbing over acres of rocks, stepping and jump- 
ing from one great boulder to another, clinging 
to little stunted oaks and dwarf mountain ce- 
dars, in an almost vain endeavor at times to 
reach a safety poise; climbing! climbing! tired 
and thirsty! Oh! the fatigue of this fearful 
weight of mine! I was hot and my throat 
was almost parched. What should I do? We 
carried no water with us, which was a serious 
oversight, but God in his all-wise power and 
goodness has the working of nature so arrang- 
ed that not even the least of his creatures will 
suffer so long as the natural laws are not vio- 
lated, and the succor of God is only withdrawn, 
ami his tender mercies disappear when we or 
any of his creatures overstep the bounds of 
reasonable, natural conditions or situations, 
and there I saw the merciful hand of God ex- 
tended to the rescue of one of his suffering 



1U6 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

creatures. Oh! I was dying of thirst when the 
discovery of water was made, which was held 
in little hollows on the flat tops of quite a num- 
ber of old rusty boulders, only a little sup in 
each little hollow; but pure and sweet, the nec- 
tar of life drank from the hollow of the palm 
of God's hand. 

Only just the day before the rocks were dry 
and barren, showing nothing but desolation in 
the heat of the midday sun, but through the 
night just passed, as before mentioned, there 
came up one of those refreshing mountain 
showers, and left the little pools of water in the 
small basins, which had been hollowed out by 
the incessant whirl the winds had given the 
course of falling rains during all ages of 
the past. So if it had not been for the little 
draughts of water found occasionally, I would 
never have had the pleasure and honor of stand- 
ing upon the topmost rock of Mt. Scott, at 
which we arrived at 10:15 o'clock. 

Oh! wdiat a beautiful sight met my eyes as I 
drank in the visions presented at every point I 
turned! Language, even if it were like Tenny- 
son's brook that would "go on forever," could 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 107 

not describe or express the loveliness and 
grandeur of the sight that is held open to the 
lovers of nature to behold from that vantage- 
ground of observation. 

While taking a short rest I chipped off some 
pieces from the crowning rocks, and gathered 
some beautiful mountain ferns and lichens for 
souvenirs of the trip. 

And while I was thus engaged, "Johnson 
Grass" and "Lady from New Mexico" had giv- 
en way to their pent up feelings, and broke 
forth in effusive efforts to tell the sleeping 
rocks and rebounding echoes, in language be- 
fitting the place and occasion, the Heavenly 
admiration that welled up in their hearts to 
overflowing for the wonderful works of nature 
that can there be seen so truly reflecting the 
handiwork of an omnipotent Being. 

Here! my friend Keeling, there is for you a 
"sermon upon the mount." For you! in whom 
I have found by association and close scrutiny 
of vour daily walks of life, the attributes of a 
vigorous and investigating mind, who has just 
now reached the turning point in life when 
the seditious seeds of false ideas and convic- 



108 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

tions will become deeply lodged in the fertile 
soil of your mind, which you have allowed to 
become inoculated to a certain extent with the 
polluted and devastating breath of scepticism. 
While on the other hand there can be planted 
and embodied in every thought emanating 
from your superior intelligence, that true 
standard of morals, the full acknowledgment 
and recognition of the omnipresence of God, 
the Creator of all things. There on the sum- 
mit of that beautiful mountain, when in a mo- 
ment of ecstasy of delight and admiration of 
the beauties with which vou were surrounded, 
you gave way to the pent up feelings of a wor- 
shiper at the shrine of the true God, con- 
verted to the true faith of Christian teachings 
by His handiwork, as shown in the beautiful 
and awe-inspiring scenes with which you were 
then encompassed, and though you might, for 
the sake of foolish argument, contend against 
the admission; but you on that incomparable 
morning, before high Heaven, proclaimed 
aloud in language of poetical symmetry, the 
very omnipotence of the God that your scepti- 
cal reasoning would deny. As you stood on 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 109 

the topmost rock of that magnificent peak, and 
surveyed the great expanse of lovely valleys 
that stretch away to the southeast as far as 
the vision could reach, and gazed upon the 
stupendous mass of inanimate rocks and tow- 
ering hills, which are ever sending forth from 
their riven breasts myriads of gushing springs 
that are hastening on their way, tumbling 
over precipices, and rippling with musical sym- 
phony over their rocky, pebbly course to perform 
the duty of one of the integral functions of the 
great plan of creation, and to the pure, re- 
freshing air you were then breathing into 
your lungs, and receiving therefrom the life- 
giving properties of the delightful atmos- 
phere; T would ask, could you help but give a 
thought to the great phenomena, and its les- 
son? And as you stood on the very pinnacle 
rock of that mountain, and turned your face 
upward, and let your eyes feast upon the beau- 
ties of the cerulean skies above, I am sure 
there could not help but arise with lasting 
force and ever-renewing energy in your bosom 
a thought of the great illimitable space above, 
and the magnitude of the planets and the vast 



HO THE HONEST PARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

system of worlds by which we are surrounded, 
and as you stood on that point of beautiful 
prospects with God's great luminary flooding 
the world with its effulgent rays, I know you 
saw reflected throughout the vastness of the 
plan of creation, the guiding Hand of omnipo- 
tence, as it is stamped in the most legible 
characters on the whole economy of nature. 

We started on our descent feeling greatly 
rested. Arrived at the bottom of Mt. Scott, 
the starting point, at 12 o'clock. 

As we were making our descent, there was 
running through my mind, a picture of the shift- 
ing scenes that would soon follow. While now 
the only persons in these mountains is an oc- 
casional crowd of sight-seers, like ourselves, 
out for recreation and to see the beauties of 
the country in its pristine glory, the changes 
that will be wrought even in the next few 
days, will be almost beyond the comprehen- 
sion of the mind, these dear old hills and 
mountains will then be over-run by the multi- 
tude of treasure seekers, that are now held 
back only by the iron hand of our Federal 
troops until the legal hour for the opening of 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. m 

the country arrives. A rush will then be on 
for mineral claims of every kind, and no doubt 
some good ones will be found. Then the can- 
yons and ravines will be resounding with the 
harsh clang of ponderous machinery, answering 
like an obedient child to the magical touch of 
the ingenuity of man, who with his ruthless 
hand of desecration will soon destroy the beau- 
tiful effect that is now so admired by the lov- 
ers of rugged nature. 

We arrived at our wagon at 12:30 o'clock; I 
was greatly exhausted and almost dead on my 
feet. We prepared dinner, and just as we 
were on the eve of partaking of it, "Texas" 
came in with a nice string of fish, and a couple 
of squirrels, and reported having a pleasant 
time along the banks of "Medicine." He thought 
he had had a great time, and in his way of 
looking at life, perhaps he had; but he had 
hidden himself from the beauties of the world, 
and of its loveliness he had not the remotest 
idea, and we four, who had made the mountain 
trip, classed him among the common herd, un- 
fit almost for a continual association to the 
end of our trip; but the game he brought in 



112 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

had an ameliorating effect upon ns, and we 
could to a certain extent overlook his short- 
comings. 

We left for Fort Sill and Lawton at 1:30 
o'clock, and by driving fast we arrived in Fort 
Sill at 3 o'clock; there we began to realize we 
were getting near that magical city, as there 
were hundreds there for their mail, who had 
driven over from Lawton, which is five miles 
south. I found a great many who were still 
making anxious inquiries about their mail, 
nursing to the last, the fond hope that, even 
then, though it would be up in the thousands 
their names would be among the prize (?) win- 
ners, and a card notifying them of the fact 
would be hailed with delight. 

After a few minutes' stop to watch the move- 
ments of the restless crowd, we were off on the 
last lap of our journey which would land us in 
Lawton. 

Nearly two miles south of Fort Sill, we 
passed through "Red Store," a noted place 
throughout this country, as it is the home of 
Emmett Cox, the twice son-in-law of Quannah 
Parker, the venerable old chief of the Coman- 




QUANNAH PARKER, 

Chief of The Comanches. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 115 

dies. Cox is a Scotchman of noble birth, be- 
longing to and descending from one of the old- 
est and most war-like clans of Scotland. He 
married a daughter of Quannah Parker's, many 
years ago, when he first landed in this part of 
the Indian country; she soon died, and lie again 
married another one of Quannah's daughters. 
He and his family occupy a beautiful two-story 
frame dwelling of modern architecture, situa- 
ted upon the eminence of a gently rising prai- 
rie onlv a short distance from his store, where 
he carries a splendid stock of goods, and does 
a large trade with his copper-colored adopted 
brothers, the Comanches. 

One mile farther south, we passed the Indian 
Mission school, with its large white stone build- 
ings, commodious in all their arrangements, 
from the large class-room to the smallest out- 
buildings. A lofty stand-pipe filled with the 
purest water from Ambrosia Springs furnishes 
the school and grounds in any quantity needed. 

We arrived on the outskirts of the "Tent 
City" at 4 o'clock, and drove slowly along "(loo- 
Goo Avenue." It consists of a single row of 
tents within one hundred feet of the town site 



115 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

reserve, and runs south half a mile where it 
forms a junction with McCoy Avenue or Main 
Street, as it is generally called; this street, 120 
feet wide, runs one mile west, and consists of 
a double row of tents, the north row backing 
up against the town reserve and facing south, 
the south row fronting north, and when I say, 
a row of tents, I mean that in all its literal 
sense, for every foot of space is occupied, and 
the tents are absolutely wedged in. We found 
the streets jammed to their utmost capacity 
with vehicles and pedestrians. For nearly two 
hours, we worked our way among that living 
sea of humanity, and gazed in wonder at the 
sights being enacted before our eyes, which 
time can never efface from our minds. We had 
discussed LaAvton for the past week, we had in 
our efforts tried to draw upon our imaginations 
and form some idea of this latent monstrosity 
of future developments; but we never, in the 
most distorted imaginative condition of our 
minds or iridescent dreams, reached the enor- 
mous latitude this fledgeling was to take on the 
first day of its birth, the 27th of July, when 
there were ten thousand people on the ground, 




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ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. H9 

who had treked from Fort Sill five miles north. 
The 5 th of August, the estimated size of the 
crowd was twenty-five thousand, with thou- 
sands upon the roals leading from Comanche, 
Duncan, Rush Springs, Marlowe, and Chicasha, 
who would arrive through the night in order 
to attend the opening of the lot sales. As we 
drove slowly along with the wagon-sheet so 
raised that it would not obstruct the view of 
that most wonderful sight, we noted the differ- 
ent lines of trade, that were carried on in the 
tents, which were used for business purposes, 
the small tent with the vender of red lemonade 
and hot peanuts, crying aloud the superior 
qualities of his wares, next would be the whole- 
sale and retail dry goods tents, doing business 
alongside of the butcher, then a restaurant, a 
fancy candy stand with the candy run together 
by being exposed to the rays of the hot sun, but 
still, I suppose, entitled to the songs of chin 
music the owner was giving the surging throng, 
detailing the merits of his stock in trade, then 
there would be next in line an immense tent 
used for gambling purposes, where the festive 
sport, like Mary's little lamb, made their living 



120 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

by "gambling on the green" and from the suc- 
cess the nervy shell-men were having, I should 
think they were reaping a rich harvest. Then 
would come the world's famous Gospel tents 
interspersed among the iniquities of the roar- 
ing young giant, and thus it ran around the en- 
tire length of the city. In fact, all lines of 
trade known to civilization were to be found 
there, both on a large and small scale. Of all 
enterprises represented I found the lodging 
tent in the greatest evidence. Each morning 
the owner stood in front of his door and booked 
for cash in advance for 25 and 50 cents, his cots 
for the following night, and by 11 o'clock A. M. 
every day, 1 found by inquiiw that all the cots 
in the city were taken, and thousands had to 
sleep out upon the ground. 

We had made the entire rounds of the city, 
and Mr. Pounder was instructed to return east 
through the prairie, and stop about 75 yards 
back of the tents on "Goo-Goo Avenue," and 
strike camp until morning. The other boys and 
I started back afoot so we could see better the 
working of the grafters of the shell games, 
which seemed to be the center of attraction. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 13 1 

We had just made our way back to "Goo-Goo 
Avenue" and were making a few little purchases 
for our supper wheD a great furor of excitement 
suddenly swept over the people. We saw the 
gathering of the excited crowd, pistols were be- 
ing flourished in the air (to the sore distress of 
myself) and above the din of all could be heard 
the angry cry of "hang him! hang the scoun- 
drel!" Things were looking squally for the inno- 
cent by-stander when the especially appointed 
officers got the upper hand of the crowd, and 
soon made their way out from among the des- 
perate howling mob with two persons, one a 
nice looking young gentleman, whom I after- 
wards learned was Dr. Igel of Texas. 

I could hear him saying as they passed me, 
"He robbed me," "He took my money!" The 
grafter had nothing to say. In fact he had 
about all the breath knocked out of him at the 
hands of the human tigers from whose clutches 
he had just escaped. His shirt was torn and 
hung in shreds around his waist, his nose was 
bleeding, and he had every appearance of one 
who had just escaped from the jaws of death, — 
and according to my way of judging matters, 



122 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

he had. It seemed the "little" Doctor had run 
up against the gambler's shell game and lost 
his money, or might have had it taken from him 
openly, but this is not probable. Any way he 
"croaked," and made a great play for public 
sympathy and got it; and the good people of 
that motley crowd, it so happened, were ripe 
for an opportunity to wreak vengeance upon 
the whole gambling fraternity, and the victim 
of this little escapade soon had the tide of pop- 
ular sentiment running his way, and what they 
did to that gambler's shell game was a "plen- 
ty." I understood that the little Doctor was held 
only a few minutes by the officer, and as every one 
the morally inclined, gamblers, cut-throats, 
toughs, and robbers, were all equally guilty of 
trespassing, and each recognized the other as 
an interloper; they had to pass upon the same 
level, that is from a legal standpoint, conse- 
quently, there were no laws except those made 
by the better element, and executed just to the 
extent as dictated by the indignation or out- 
raged feelings of the better class, who were ex- 
pected to mould the future social conditions of 
the city. Therefore the gambler in his tatter- 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 123 

ed raiment was soon free, and looking for vic- 
tims fresh to "buck" his little game. 

In a great state of trepidation, after what I 
bad jnst witnessed, I made a hasty exit from the 
streets, and sought ont onr wagon from among 
the hundreds that were anchored near by. I 
found when I arrived that the other boys had 
preceded me by several minutes, and were be- 
wailing the fact that we had no weapons of de- 
fense in our outfit. 

Having about gotten our nervous systems 
quieted down to the normal stage, we were get- 
ting ready to eat a short supper, when our at- 
tention was attracted by the sudden and alarm- 
ing fusillade of pistols down on the main street, 
and from the unearthly noise emanating from 
that direction, it appeared that bedlam had 
turned loose. The thunder of angry voices 
could be heard occasionally above the sharp re- 
ports of the 45's that were in rapid action. Soon 
could be discerned in the fading light of day, 
dark objects as they shot out from the alleys 
and streets as if propelled forward upon the toe 
of a big boot, closery followed by an angry mob, 



124 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

the whole made a scene that took on the appear- 
ance of the demons of hell turned loose. 

And during that pandemonium out-break, 
could be seen the tin horn gamblers, the graft- 
ers, and all the "toughs" coming, coatless, hat- 
less, in twos, fours, half dozens, 

and squads of fifteen or twenty; they were flee- 
ing from the wrath of an outraged people, and 
making for the bottom of Cache creek a mile 
away. It seems that after the people had be- 
come wrought up over the little Doctor's trou- 
ble, the Texas people leading, a meeting of indig- 
nation was held, and it was decided to clear the 
town of the whole gambling fraternity, and by 
half past six o'clock, there was not a gambler 
within the limits of the city, or if there was, he 
was keeping very low, and not plying his usual 
vocation. 

After the excitement had subsided, we pro- 
ceeded to eat our supper; but used no lights, as 
it was thought, under the circumstances, it was 
very unsafe. 

After our meal AA 7 as over, "Lady from Mexico" 
and "Georgia" gathered up courage enough to 
make a visit to the business streets of the city. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 125 

"Johnson Grass," "Texas," and I, with the driv- 
er, remained in camp. 

We took our nsnal smoke and being very 
tired after our hard climb up Mount Scott, and 
the general hardships of the day, we made our 
beds down upon the high prairie grass near the 
wagon, and retired at o'clock. 

We had been lying down about five minutes 
when there rang out upon the still night air, 
the sharp report of a pistol, followed in a few 
seconds, by two other reports almost simulta- 
neouslv. I saw the flash of the last two shots. 
Following almost immediately upon the last re- 
port, was the cry of a dying man, I heard him 
plaiDly say, "Oh, God! Oh, my Lord!" These 
were the last outcries he made. 

This occurred* about seventy-five yards east 
of our camp on the road to Cache creek. In a 
little while, parties in the town hearing of the 
occurrence, came out, got him, and carried him 
to the hospital, where he died the next morn- 
ing at 4 o'clock. His name was Irwin Rogers, 
and he came from Kay County, Oklahoma. He 
with three other companions had been upon the 
streets, and were returning to their wagons 



126 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

down near Cache creek, and had gone only a 
short distance, when they were held up by two 
foot-pads who ordered them to throw up their 
hands. The three men with Rogers became so 
frightened they did not realize what they were 
doing, and ran off. Mr. Rogers seemed to have 
made a movement to get his "gun," tlr n the rob- 
bers became murderers and shot him, and even 
took the small amount of money he had, after 

* 7 

he was down in the road, and his life's blood 
fast flowing from his veins. Such a dastardly 
crime as here related, was not calculated to les- 
sen the already wrought up tension of the 
nerves; but on the contrary, taken in connec- 
tion with the fact that "hold-ups" and open 
daylight robberies were frequent occurrences, 
and that only the night before, the occupants 
of the lodging tents throughout the city, had 
been robbed of about eighteen hundred dol- 
lars in money and valuables, naturally increas- 
ed our state of terror. It was some time after 
the excitement incident to the robbery and 
murder before we again sought the rest of bodv 
and mind that we all sorelv needed. 

However, after a fairly good night's rest, we 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 127 

were prematurely awakened by the din of noise, 
sounding in the distance like the roar of the 
ceaseless roll of the ocean's waves, as they dash 
with fury against the walls of a rock-bound 
coast, occasioned by the already gathering 
throng of thousands upon "Goo-Goo Avenue" 
and Main street, for was not this the day of the 
dawning of a new regime when the shackles of 
restraint would be broken asunder and the free 
born American, who is ever restless under the 
most favorable conditions, will be allowed to 
turn himself loose upon the new country, when 
each and every one will be basking in the sun- 
light of his own individuality and self-impor- 
tance? 

After a hearty breakfast (and by the way, 
"Lightning Rod Agent's" last meal with his 
honored and true companions of the trip) we 
were all soon mingling with the "flotsam and 
jetsam" of the tide of drifting humanity that 
was being roughly tossed upon the turbulent 
bosom of the ever deceptive sea of life. The 
roport was that there were at least two thou- 
sand new arrivals through the night, and they 
were still pouring in. No one but those on the 



128 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

ground can ever realize the magnitude of that 
cosmopolitan crowd. While loitering along 
the streets of the canvas city in the early morn- 
ing, I could not help but note the absence of 
the gambler and grafter whose presence was 
in such evidence the day before. The action 
of the people had put a quietus on all classes 
of sports, and I rather think it will be many a 
long' dav before any of them ever darken the 
portals of Lawton again with their presence. 

There was a feeling of relief when Mr. Wm. 
Painter, the recent appointee of Governor Jen- 
kins, entered upon his official duties as sheriff 
of the new county of Comanche. He promised 
the good people that he would surely bring or- 
der out of the chaotic conditions then prevail- 
ing, and I believe he will do so. While he is a 
gentleman of pleasing and congenial appear- 
ance, he also has that strong cast of character 
stamped on his countenance that clearly indi- 
cates that he will carry out the law to the let- 
ter, quietly and agreeably if possible; but forci- 
blv if necessary. 

The threats of the saloon men to the effect 
that they would have their saloons open, and 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 129 

would be selling whiskey in Lawton by 1 o'- 
clock the morning of August the 6th, were not 
* carried into execution; though quite a number 
of them had their places of cursed iniquity 
erected, and ready to deal out the fiery draughts 
of hell, among a people who were already 
cursed with the presence of hundreds of the 
hardest characters to be found outside of the 
boundaries of Hades itself. Holy horrors! just 
to think of turning the liquid sin of the devil 
loose among those hundreds of human demons! 
Oh God! the thought is too terrible for the mind 
to dwell upon. 

I visited the office of the Lawton Dailv Dem- 
ocrat, then occupying quarters temporarily in 
a large tent, and ablv edited bv L. T. Russell, a 
courteous, nice gentleman. I ran a little free 
silver into the hot box of his printing press, 
with instructions to keep her coming, as I 
wanted to watch the pace of Lawton at a dis- 
tance through the aid of the newsy columns of 
the lustv little dailv. Mr. Russell assured me 
that within a very short time he would have in 
all the latest and up-to-date printing machin- 
ery, then he would give the people a paper that 



130 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 



• 



would reflect credit upon this great South-west- 
ern country, which I am satisfied he will do. 

As the sale of lots was advertised to begin 
promptly at 9 o'clock, I repaired to that point 
of interest, where I arrived about five minutes 
before the sale was opened. There I found an 
anxious, excited, conglomerated multitude of 
real and would-be speculators, sight-seers, rub- 
ber neckers, or jammers you might say, with no 
doubt the light fingered pick-pocket, ready to 
ply his nefarious calling if the opportunity was 
presented. All mixing and commingling to- 
gether with all restraint and ordinary sem- 
blance of politeness cast aside. 

Promptly at the stroke of nine, the sale was 
legally opened, and sales began. The auction- 
eer's stand was on an elevated platform with a 
canvas covering over it, and open all around 
so as to secure free ventilation, and it looked 
to us victims boiling in the hot sunshine be- 
low like a sweet haven of rest secure from the 
fiery face of "Old Sol." Under instructions 
from the Department at Washington, the busi- 
ness lots must be sold first, size of same 25 x 
140 feet. So lot No. 1 in block No. 23 on 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 131 

street was the first lot put up, when some live- 
ly bidding ensued, and was finally knocked 
down for the enormous sum of four hundred 
and twenty dollars. 

I make this statement about the price for the 
reason that the location of the lot is one-half 
mile from Court House Square, and taking the 
sale as a criterion by which to be governed, 
the lots around the Court House Square will 
evidently bring several thousand dollars each. 
As the sale of the lots is a spot cash transac- 
tion, some very unique and ludicrous sights 
were witnessed. For instance, the gentleman 
making the purchase of the first lot, ripped 
open the inside seam of his pants leg, and took 
therefrom a roll of "long green" from which he 
counted out the required amount. Then again 
you would see some one in the crowd drop 
down upon the ground, take off his old shoe, 
"skin" off his sock, and fish out his "wad," then 
after replacing sock and shoe, walk up and 
"plank" down his payment. Dozens of in- 
stances like these mentioned were occurring all 
the time the sale was progressing. 

From there I made my way back to the Land 



132 THB HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

Office where an animated scene was being en 
acted. The first hundred and twenty-five 
lucky winners, who had drawn the capital 
prizes, were surrounded by a horde of lawyers, 
who for a small stipend were twisting' the stat- 
utes bearing upon the entering of public lands 
to suit the case in hand. J. R. Wood, who had 
drawn number one (1), the richest prize of all, 
seemed to have the largest retinue of the legal 
lights in his swing, and finally made his filing 
on four ±0's lying along the entire length of the 
town site, to the mortification and chagrin of 
Miss Matlie Beale and her army of admirers. 

After some little time spent there, I made my 
way to the Indian camp, situated about half a 
mile north-east of the "Tent City." The Co- 
manche Indian is like the veritable small bov 
at the circus parade. He is always following 
the largest and noisiest crowd. It was then 
about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and the sun 
was throwing over this already dry country, an 
unusually oppressive degree of heat. As I ap- 
proached the village, there were no signs of 
life on the exterior of the tents, and the first 
reception I received was from the hundreds of 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 133 

dogs which had suddenly become aroused with 
excited animation at my appearance. They 
came out at me in swarms. Dogs of all sizes, 
colors and breeds, barking and yelping, and to 
one not familiar with the cowardly instincts of 
the average Indian dog, the situation would 
have been alarming; but I had been in Indian 
camps before, having spent several years of my 
life among the Sioux of the North-west, con- 
sequently I gave little notice to the seeming 
onslaught of howling canines. 

I found the women and children lolling in 
their tents, the "old bucks," of course, being in 
town, sight seeing, and playing their favorite 
game "Mexican Monte." The Comanche is an 
inveterate gambler, but plays the game men- 
tioned, exclusive of all others. You will never 
see him running up against a "sure thing 
game." He leaves these all severely alone, and 
says his credulous pale face brother is "heap 
big fool." 

I found some of the young Indian girls dress- 
ed in the costliest raiment known to the fash- 
ionable world. While the style was not exact- 
ly up to date, the quality of material was not 



134 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

lacking; a pink waist and green skirt of pure 
silk, with a beautiful large blanket thrown 
loosely around the shoulders, and allowed to 
hang low enough around the neck to display a 
solid gold necklace, was a costume that was not 
at all uncommon. Occasionally, an old squaw 
with her papoose strapped to her back, would 
pass from one tent or teepee to another, I sup- 
pose returning a social call that was paid to her 
from the neighbors during the heated term of 
the day before. 

The boys joked me considerably about a 
young squaw of perhaps sixty summers, who 
made "Goo-Goo Eyes" at me as we were com- 
ing from Fort Sill. She passed us on the road, 
she was bareheaded, riding both sides and the 
top of the pony at the same time. From my 
position, she could see more of me than she 
could of the other boys, as they were screened 
by the wagon-sheet. The old hag kept smiling 
and kissing her hands to me, and seemed to 
enjoy my discomfort. She very soon caught 
the drift of the joke, and as the boys were 
laughing uproariously at my expense, she con- 




Apache Squaw and Papoose 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 137 

tinued lier monkey shines until lost to view 
down the road. 

It was then about 4 o'clock, and I once more 
sought the sights of the city; as I had been too 
busy so far to think of eating I began to feel 
the pangs of hunger, and entered the most re- 
spectable looking restaurant among the scores 
that line the streets, where for the small sum 
of fifty cents, I soon appeased the longings of 
a ravenous appetite. While eating I was 
watching the ever-changing scene before me, 
and I noted the war-like appearance of the dif- 
ferent vehicles arriving from the railroad sta- 
tions along the R. I. & P. Ry., each bearing its 
burden of tired, dusty travelers who were just 
arriving at their journey's end. 

After I had eaten, I went out to make a spe- 
cial inspection of several hacks and wagons 
near by, and found them all with an outfit of 
Winchesters, shot-guns and Colt's 45's almost 
equal to an arsenal. Upon inquiry about the 
matter, I was informed that since Sunday even- 
ing, when highway robbers had held up and 
robbed about twenty wagons on the Rush 
Springs and Marlowe roads, and killed Dr. 



138 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

Beanblossoin's eleven year old son, who with 
his father was on his way to Lawton from Okla- 
homa City, all the drivers of the various vehi- 
cles had fully armed themselves, and were 
ready to meet the murderous scoundrels in a 
way and manner that would prove distasteful 
to them if they should dare show their heads. 
I was then thinking seriously of starting 
home, and the more I allowed my mind to dwell 
upon that thought, the more easily I yielded. 
While I was walking along meditating over the 
matter, I was suddenly brought to a decision 
when upon my ear there fell a sonorous voice in 
a monotone key, "This hack goes to Duncan. 
Will leave in a few minutes." I just fell all over 
myself in my endeavor to get into the hack be- 
fore others perhaps wanting to go that way, 
would fill the seats. I soon found Mr. Brymer, 
the gentleman driving the hack, was an all 
around good man and from Texas. Soon our 
complement of passengers was secured and com- 
posed of the following parties: J. Frolyat of 
Paris, Texas, his loquacious friend T. S. Agor- 
bra of the same place, and a gentleman from 
Illinois, who proved to be an exponent of Ne- 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 139 

gro Equality and Civil Rights. 

We drove by our camp for my valise, where 
I bade Mr. Mothershead and Mr. Messer good- 
bye. Mr. Wells and Mr. Keeling being away 
in town, I had to leave without a last hand- 
shake from those two dear old boys who will 
always hold a warm place in my memory. 

And just as the sun, bathed in a glorious halo 
of dazzling gold, was sinking below the horizon 
of the west, we passed the confines of the "Mag- 
ic City." 

Again and again, I turned to take a long 
last farewell of the scenes that had been so fas- 
cinating and attractive to me. 

Oli, Lawton the great! It was with sighs of re- 
gret I bade thee adieu. I beg thee ten thousand 
pardons for thus sinning against thee, and wish 
to Heaven that bitter cup of abject humiliation 
could have been dashed from my lips, and 
crushed to atoms at my feet; but the honor of 
having been allowed to behold thy fair young 
form will live with ever renewing energy in my 
memory throughout my life; and as j r ears roll 
by upon the swift wing of time, and I hear 
from time to time of the splendor and efful- 



140 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

gence of thy shining light, like the Star of Beth- 
lehem, so shedding thy luminous rays as to at- 
tract and draw to thee the wise men of the East 
and West and North and South, who will bow 
down at thy throne of success, and bathe thy 
feet in myrrh and sweet incense of spices, and 
burn upon the altar of thy phenomenal progress 
the offerings of sweet bay and scented oils. 
The delightful odor thereof will be gathered up 
b}^ the gentle breezes as they fondly caress thy 
fresh young cheeks, and thus the anointed 
breath of thy greatness will be wafted to the 
uttermost limits of this great country, and thy 
worshipers, whose name is legion, will rise up 
and proclaim to the wide world the resources 
of thy charms; and then will I know and be the 
happier for knowing that all the prophecies 
that have been made as to thy future greatness 
have come true, and thou Oh! Lawton, will be 
die bright shining star of the great South- 
west. 

In a few minutes after leaving and just be- 
fore reaching the crossing on Cache creek, we 
passed ten or fifteen young ladies riding horse- 
back a la Doctor Mary Walker, without saddles, 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 141 

but using instead some very rich colored Indian 
blankets; they were dressed in the style of 
gaudy Indian "bucks" with the feathered head 
trimmings, and fancy bead work adorning the 
buckskin leggings, and in fact with all the 
trappings that go towards completing the reg- 
ulation Indian make-up; and as we whirled by 
them thev bade us bon voyage. That was de- 
cidedly the gayest croAvd I saw in Lawton. 

In a little while, night threw her mantle of 
darkness around us, and then Mr. Brymer, with 
whom I was occupying the front seat, shoved 
two shells loaded with buckshot into his double 
barrel shot gun, and gave it to me, and told me 
to keep a sharp lookout as we were crossing the 
dark creek bottoms, and if anyone attempted 
to hold us up, just blow their heads off. With 
trembling hands I received the gnu and re- 
plied, "I will kill a whole flock of robbers if 
thev should have the temerity to tackle us." 

Mr. Frolyat worked his nerve up to the point 
of war of extermination, and got out his Colt's 
45, and placed it in convenient reach so as to 
be ready in an emergency call. Mr. T. S. Agor- 
bra said he was only armed with the weapon of 



142 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

kind — the same the Holy Writ mentions when 
one of the old patriarchs of that time slew 
thousands of his enemies, the Philistines, with 
a similar weapon. And occasionally he would 
turn this terrible means of his defense loose 
upon the batteries of the gentleman from Illi- 
nois, and by using some very forcible argu- 
ments plainly spoken, he would soon have his 
antagonist utterly vanquished, so far as the un- 
tenable position that gentleman held as to Ne- 
gro Equality and Civil Rights. 

Occasionally, both of my Paris friends would 
fire hot shot into his camp at such a lively rate 
that they would fairly take his breath, and fi- 
nally succeeded in silencing him effectually, 
thereupon he settled down upon the sack of 
corn he was occupying as a seat, in the rear end 
of the hack, and doubling himself into about 
the shape of a distorted letter S, went to sleep, 
and nothing more throughout the remainder of 
the trip was heard from him, only an occasion- 
al snort like the bellow of a mad bull when fac- 
ing his tormentor in a Mexican "Bull "Ring." 

We had several startling experiences of run- 
ning almost into the arms of those horrid, 



ON A LARK SEBIN' THE WEST. 143 

blood- thirsty road agents; but which upon close 
inspection, each time, proved to be only a "mule 
skinner" of a belated wagon with a load of 
lumber bound for Lawton, and camped by the 
wayside, which in the dark gloom of the night, 
with the mules and the driver stalking about 
the wagon, made it appear to our already ex- 
cited minds like an armed body of men lying 
in wait, and ready to pounce upon the unwary 
traveler. 

Striking situations of this kiud, caused the 
nervous individuals of our party (Frolyat and 
me) to grasp our weapons more tightly, and 
make preparations for playing the leading role 
in the grim act of a terrible tragedy. In re- 
gard to T. S. Agorba, I will say that he could 
never be caught off his guard, as he was al- 
ways ready and firing away all the time, hit or 
miss, he was always cocked and primed for a 
fresh charge, and in order to escape the full 
effect of his- continuous broadside, Frolyat and 
I would often get out in the darkness and take 
to the prairie until we had gotten in a condi- 
tion to again meet the onslaughts of our talka- 
tive companion, whose mouth was cut bias, and 



144 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

when opened to receive the enormous quantities 
of hot pancakes, maple syrup, and pies that he 
has been known to consume at one sitting, then 
it is, so Frolyat told me, he presents a ludicrous 
picture indeed, as he has a habit peculiar to 
himself of pushing- his ears back by a muscular 
movement, about an inch every time he opens 
that unfillable aperture, this being necessary 
in order to save those asinine appendages from 
being engulfed in its cavernous depths. 

From Frolyat's description of that perform- 
ance, I dare say it would be a sight that would 
arouse the risibilities of the gods of the ancient 
Egyptians if they could behold this gourmandi- 
zer of unsatiable appetite, devouring all whole- 
some viands that might by intention or acci- 
dent be placed before his hungry eyes. 

And Frolyat said that just only the day be- 
fore on their trip out to Lawton from the near- 
est railroad station in a lumber wagon, when 
the meridian of the sun marked the dinner 
hour, and they had arranged the contents of 
their grub basket on the seat between them, 
bis loquacious friend immediately lost all in- 
terest in the lovely scenery with which they 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 145 

were surrounded, aud turned his undivided at- 
tention to the bounteous spread they had se- 
cured in a restaurant, before starting on their 
overland trip, and which was then exciting the 
secretions of his salival glands to such an ex- 
tent that his mouth was dripping like an East 
Texas negro's in watermelon season. 

And Frolyat swore on his word of honor that 
this wonderful devourer of good things to eat 
actually devoured a whole baked hen, all the 
jam, cakes, and cookies while he (Frolyat) was 
eating a ham sandwich; and after he had clean- 
ed up everything in sight, he drank a copious 
draught of water from a stagnant branch, and 
lay down in the wagon and went to sleep. 

And while thus locked in the arms of Mor- 
pheus his terrible mouth had fallen open, and 
the sun's hot rays were penetrating even to the 
masticated portion of the defunct hen, the flies 
had swarmed around the ghastly gash across 
his countenance, and reminded one of a party 
of tourists climbing Mount Vesuvius; thev were 
trying to get to the mouth of the crater. 

Frolyat, in order to save his friend from be- 
ing fly-blown as well as wind-bagged, secured 



146 THE HONEST PARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

a palm leaf fan from their baggage, and while 
he denied himself the pleasure of viewing the 
beautiful scenery of the country through which 
they were passing, he industriously fought the 
thousands of little pests which would have oth- 
wise despoiled the pleasure of his friend's siesta. 
I hardly think Frolyat could have worked more 
strenuously in his self imposed task of protect- 
ing his sleeping friend from the flies, than he 
worked in trying to keep the gentleman from 
Illinois from thrusting his feet forward and un- 
der the seat occupied by himself, thereby caus- 
ing him a great deal of discomfort. And long 
before we reached Duncan, he had ruined his 
five-dollar umbrella, punching at the pedal ex- 
tremities of our prostrate friend of somnolent 
tendencies, and there were times when patience 
ceased to be a virtue with him, and he was sore- 
ly tempted to try his Colt's trusty 45 on this 
Illinois plague, before tackling the desperate 
road agents. 

Just before our arrival at Duncan, a quiet- 
ness seemed to steal over our party; every one 
was deeply engaged in his own thoughts, com- 
muning with oneself, as it were. During this 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 147 

interim of quietude, I was lazily reclining in 
the comfortable high easy seat with my head 
resting against one of the uprights that sup- 
ported the cover of the hack when almost un- 
consciously I fell into a doze. 

Five years have passed in the history of life. 
Again I am back in the "Promised Land" or 
Comanche country, bowling along in a livery 
rig on the road from Duncan to Lawton, and 
neminiscently connecting the past with the 
present. It is a beautiful June morning, the 
sun just peeping up from the east, floods the 
earth with a sheen of purple golden fire, and 
stirs all nature to life; and as the golden ar- 
rows of this great ocean of radiance is reach- 
ing out over the land of bountiful crops, the 
dew-drops, which are yet clinging to the grass- 
es and ripening grain, gather in the flashing 
rays of sunlight, and throw back to the delight- 
ed vision of the beholder, seeminglv mvriads 
upon myriads of sparkling, glittering diamonds, 
the birds are sweetly caroling, occasionally the 
whir of a prairie chicken startles one as it wings 
its way from one field of wheat to another. 
Now I hear the clear cock-a-doodle-doo of the 



148 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

barnyard despot, and in my imagination I can 
see him as he struts and pinnies himself in re- 
gal style while basking in his early morning's 
sun bath. Upon the soft balmy air, is borne the 
gentle low of the sleek fat cattle as they are be- 
ing driven to the meadows by a robust farmer 
lad. Now a more discordant sound falls upon 
my ear, it is the sharp bark of an enraged ca- 
nine that has become aroused at our near ap- 
proach to a lovely farmhouse. The cheery voice 
of the maid of all work is heard in song as she 
rattles the milk pans together, and as we glide 
by over the smooth, well-kept road, we catch a 
glimpse of the farmer's wife as she is indus- 
triously engaged in her morning's house-clean- 
ing. The farm cottages are all of the latest 
design of architecture, with occasionally a 
mansion of no mean pretensions; a beautiful 
church or school building is always in sight. 
We are now listening to the click, click of the 
mowing machine as it is cutting the sweet 
meadow ha v. The low cadencies of the an to- 
binders, under the control of ruddy faced far- 
mers as they move gracefully along over the 
nearby fields of golden grain tend to lend still 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 149 

greater enchantment to the picture of contrast 
that has now taken full possession of my mind. 
We are now nearing Cache creek, the old ford- 
ing place of five years ago. We behold before 
us a handsome, substantial iron bridge spanning 
the blue waters of the dear old stream which in 
the opening of this country furnished me so 
many varied pleasures. 

Comanche county has thousands of dollars in 
the treasury to her credit and the taxes in the 
grand State of Oklahoma are very low in- 
deed. While enjoying to my heart's content 
this view of remarkable changes that have 
been wrought over this land, I am suddenly 
aroused by a voice hoarse and terrible, which 
seems to say, "all hands up!" Dropping the gun, 
my hands shot upwards with such force that 
my fingers punctured the oil-cloth covering of 
the hack, then as in a dream, I seemed to hear 
the voice of T. S. Agorbra, saying, "We are 
only a crowd of investors in town property in 
the town of Lawton," then a low muttered curse 
of disgust from the imaginary robbers, and as 
they retired I thought I could hear one saying 
in low angry tones, " 'S-death, we are foiled and 



150 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

beaten again by Uncle Sam at our own game." 
My mind was in this bewildered state when I 
was brought suddenly to a realization of my 
surroundings by a rather severe shake from Mr. 
Brymer and heard him saying, "Here, Milam, is 
your boarding house." 

"Well, gentlemen, before leaving you I want 
you to tell me honor bright about the robbers, 
were we not attacked by them a little distance 
back?" "No," said Frolyat, "but you must 
have evidently been attacked by a very acute 
spell of colic, we had been watching you for 
some time and were satisfied you were having 
some trouble in the latter part of your nap; but 
the grand climax took place when in a hilarious 
mood Mr. Brymer yelled: "Duncan! all hands 
out!'" 

After this explanation, I felt greatly reliev- 
ed and bidding Frolyat, his friend, and Mr. 
Brymer good-bye, I blew a kiss through my fin- 
ger tips to the much abused and burdened sack 
of corn in the rear end of the hack, and in a few 
moments more I was in my bed where I enjoyed 
to the full limit, my first hours of restful sleep 
for several nights past. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 151 

After a rest of a day or two, I shall leave for 
home, say about the 11th. 

Devotedly, 

B. J. MILAM. 



152 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

An Extended Visit to Corpus Ohristi, Texas. 
The Beautiful Little "Epworth" 
League City" of the 
South-West. 
To My Dear Little Christian Son, Ralph La- 
mar Milam. 



FISHING ON CORPUS CHRISTI BAY. 

Having long wanted to make a trip to the 
noted fishing grounds of Flour Bluff, and there 
tantalize the aesthetic appetite of the finny 
tribe, I was fortunate enough on May 3rd, 1904, 
to become a member of a party of old and tried 
fishermen, who were fully equipped for an out- 
ing of a few days in that particular locality. I 
was taken in as an honorary member through 
the solicitations of my friend F. J. Shade, who 
owns the most extensive hog ranch in all South- 
west Texas. He raises exclusively the noted 
Mexican hog, or Javalina (ha-va-li-na) and 
would no doubt make a howling success in his 
very laudable enterprise, if it were not for the 
determined inconsistency of his partner in the 



ON A LARK SEBIN' THE WEST. 153 

ranch, who persists in raising dogs (coyotes). 
These two animals of opposing poles in dispo- 
sition, do not take to each other in a way that 
is conducive to the upbuilding of either indus- 
try, for when the little hogs haven't got the 
dogs on the run, the hogs are on the run from 
the dogs; and as my friend said, "There I be 
'twixt the devil and the deep blue sea." I 
rather think my friend Shade will have to 
butcher his hogs, and persuade his partner 
to kill his dogs, and open up a hot tamale busi- 
ness before he will ever be able to realize on 
his ranch investment. 

Speaking about Javalina hogs, reminds one 
of the miracle that Christ performed when He 
cast the devils into a herd of swine, whereupon 
they ran into the sea,, and those same hogs 
when they ran into the sea never stopped until 
they reached South-west Texas; and there they 
have remained, and increased their breed until 
this day, and their name is "Legion," for thou- 
sands of them can be found in the chaparral in 
South-west Texas and Mexico, still containing 
the same old devils with all their original cun- 
ning and baseness. For there is not a crea- 



154 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

ture on top side of God's green earth that these 
little demons are afraid of, and when a bunch 
of these little imps of old Nick gets a fellow on 
the ran, it takes a good gun and unerring aim 
to check them in their demoniacal pursuit of 
their fleeing foe; and woe be unto the pursued 
if there is no tall timber handy in case of an 
emergency, for a man brought to bay by a 
bunch of these little devils incarnate would not 
last as long as a snowball in a fiery furnace. 

The personnel of our party consisted of F. L. 
Shade, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, for the past 
twenty years, however, a citizen of Maryville, 
Missouri, who acted as chaperon, and was own- 
er of the wagon and team, the modus operan- 
di of locomotion on our journey, H. O. Roger- 
son, the chief patriarch, who laid the founda- 
tion of his fortune by vending hoop-poles and 
persimmons in the old Tar Heel State, and the 
most renowned mud cat catcher of all the Cor- 
pus Christi country, G. B. Kimball, a young 
gentleman (of sixty) from Jamesport, Missou- 
ri, whose fresh young mind continually dwells 
upon the fairest handiwork of God's creation; 
and Ralph, my little six-year-old son. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 155 

We left Corpus Christi at 8 o'clock, the road 
ran parallel with, the bay shore the entire 
length of our journey. We passed the Alta 
Vista hotel building at nine o'clock. The 
building is one of Hie remaining relics of the 
memorable Rope's boom. It is indeed a hand- 
some structure with its 126 rooms, finished 
throughout in beautiful hardwood, and built on 
a palatial style of architecture at a cost of near- 
ly one hundred thousand dollars. It then 
stood as a sentinel over the grave of blasted 
hopes and anticipations, a landmark from all 
points of view for the mariner, occupying as it 
does a place upon the highest point of land con- 
tiguous to the waters of Corpus Christi Bay. 
It was then fast going to ruin and had never 
had a single guest within its doors. Its only 
occupants at the time we passed were a widow 
lady and her four children, who were using two 
rooms on the lower floor for light housekeeping; 
but the largest and finest room in the building, 
she utilized as a chicken roost, and no doubt it 
was the most expensive chicken house in the 
United States, or perhaps in the world. Be- 



156 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

sides the immense hotel building there were 
several annex buildings that cost from three 
to six thousand dollars each; quite a number of 
them had been recently purchased by new-com- 
ers, remodeled, painted nicely, and then pre 
sented a pretty appearance, located as they are 
along the cliffs or bluffs overlooking the beauti- 
ful waters of Corpus Christi Bay. At ten o'- 
clock, we passed Farmer Clark's, the famous 
South-west Texas trucker and dairyman. He 
was just driving his beautiful herd of register- 
ed jersey cows to pasture as we drove by. Af- 
ter seeing and admiring the source of the cele- 
brated "Farmer Clark" butter, which is sold on 
the local market, we could not help realizing 
our fondness for it. 

Directly after crossing what is called the Oso, 
we approached the much noted Flour Bluffs, 
our road skirted along tlnm, and for a drive of 
one hour, we were within a few hundred yards 
of those peculiar hiJIs. They got their name, 
I am satisfied, from the snowy -white sand of 
which they are formed, which is very fine, and 
at a distance and particularly so on a bright, 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 157 

sunshiny day, they look like a great heap of 
powdered chalk or flour. Being near the bay 
shore, the reflection cast back from the water 
gives them a dazzling brightness that is really 
phenomenal. We arrived at Flour Bin If land- 
ing, at the entrance to the laguna, at one o'clock 
P. M. There we found Mr. Martin and family, of 
Birmingham, Ala., with the Misses Evans, 
Edith and Hattie, of Corpus Christi, as guests 
of honor, comfortably quartered in the old 
hotel building, a relic of the boom; but un- 
used for the purpose for which it was con- 
structed. 

Mr. Martin is the most enthusiastic and in- 
veterate fisherman that ever visited that sec- 
tion. He never failed to locate his prey in 
their most secret lair, and through machina- 
tions of his own conjuring, re always succeed- 
ed in netting them into his toils. 



& 



We drove to the old warehouse, only a short 
distance from the hotel building, which is 
directly on the channel, and has a wharf ex- 
tending out into the channel to deep water, 
where Mr. Martin said fishing is always good; 



158 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

there we unloaded our dunnage, prepared a 
hasty meal and all ate most voraciously. 
Soon we were casting our hooks into the wa- 
ters of the channel, and the evening wound up 
with a good catch of hog fish and trout. Mr. 
Rogerson, not wanting to lose any of his pres- 
tige of piast achievements, stuck strictly to 
mud cats, and his fame was enlarged upon 
greatly as he led all the gang in catching this 
particular variety of fish. 

The appearance of the weather not being 
favorable, we decided to move our camp to the 
hotel building, where Mr. Martin with his fam- 
ily and friends were located. Though the 
building was a landmark of antiquity, we wel- 
comed its friendly shelter with feelings of 
gratitude. 

After a hearty supper of fish and crabs, the 
last mentioned dainty morsel having been pre- 
sented by Mr. and Mrs. Martin, we opened a 
bale of hay and scattered it about over the floor 
upon which we made our beds. Ralph was 
worn out after the day's trip, and was the first 
to seek the seductive charms of Morpheus, and 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 159 

was soon dreaming of the sea monster he would 
capture on the morrow. As for myself, in 
spite of all efforts to the contrary, I remained 
awake until the wee sma' hours of the morn- 
ing, as it was a matter of impossibility to 
sleep with the three young (?) guys of the gang 
chattering away like a trio of excited monkeys. 
About 3 o'clock an electrical storm of terrific 
severity came up, followed by a downpour of 
rain. The exciting effects of the storm were 
somewhat eliminated when Mr. Rogerson, of 
gato piscaro fame, arose to remark that it 
rained with less judgment in Texas than in 
any country on earth. 

We were all up and stirring by early day- 
light. The storm had passed away and a stiff 
breeze was blowing off the gnlf, which is only 
six miles distant. There was a salty balminess 
in the air which was indeed delightful. Break- 
fast was oyer at 7 o'clock, and we were all off 
again for the laguna for another day's fishing. 
We cast our lines along the shore until Mr. 
Martin came down, then we all joined him in 
his boat. His usual good luck followed him, 



160 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

and lie carried in the finest string of fish that 
was caught during the morning's fishing. At 
night, we cast up the results of the day's sport. 
Ralph led the crowd with about one dozen 
large cat fish; he and the young ladies had 

CD J 1/ CD 

also succeeded in bagging a great number of 
crabs. Mr. Kimball, to our surprise, in a con- 
test with Mr. Rogerson, caught more mud cats 
on that particular occasion than the famous 
"mnd catter." However, Mr. Rogerson, in or- 
der to square himself with his more successful 
companions, placed a silver hook of twenty- 
five cents' value beside six nice trout a Mexi- 
can had caught, and presto, change! the Mexi- 
cano had the dinero and the Americano had 
the piscaro, and thus he saved his reputation 
among his comrades of the trip. 

The morning of the 5th found us all up at 
5:30 o'clock. Arrangements were made to 
break up camp and start for home immediate- 
ly after breakfast so as to arrive at the Oso 
bridge in time to trv our luck there, where we 
anticipated a large catch from the waters at 
the mouth of the Oso. Everything being in 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 161 

readiness, we bade our friends farewell and 
were off at 7:30 o'clock. We arrived at the 
Oso at 9:15, got our fishing tackle out and for 
some time tried our luck along the shore with 
little success. For a small sum we hired a 
boat from an Italian captain of a fishing smack 
near by, and went out on the bay several hun- 
dred yards from the shore; but again disap- 
pointment met our efforts, as we only succeed- 
ed in landing several large drum, but failed 
entirely in getting strikes from the wily and 
elusive trout. 

After returning to the shore we cooked and 
ate our dinner, hitched up the team and pulled 
stakes for the last lap into Corpus Christi, 
where we arrived at 6 o'clock, after having 
spent three pleasant days along the shore of 
Corpus Christi Bay. 



162 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

A Visit to St. Joseph and Mustang Islands 

From Corpus Christi On the Sailing 

Yacht, Moselle Bead. 

1904. 



A VISIT TO ST. JOSEPH AND MUSTANG 

ISLANDS. 

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, 
Taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." 

— Shakespeare. 

It is taking advantage of each golden op- 
portunity presented in this life that makes life 
worth the living. 

On August the 1st, I learned that I could 
take advantage of an opportunity presented 
and make a three or four days' cruise to St. 
Joseph and Mustang Islands on Aransas Pass 
Channel. Upon receiving that pleasing infor- 
mation I at once hied myself away to my 
staunch old friend, Mr. H. C. Rogerson, be- 
cause it was always such a pleasure to have 
this solid old commoner with me, and in lan- 
guage befitting the seductiveness of a siren, I 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 163 

laid the plans of the prospective trip before 
him. He assured me that it would afford him 
the greatest pleasure to go with me and my 
family. 

Arrangements were made and Ave met at the 
Anderson wharf at 7:30 o'clock the following 
morning, where we were soon aboard the 
schooner, "Moselle Read," the most up-to-date 
pleasure boat on Corpus Christi Bay. 

We weighed anchor and under a light breeze 
stood out to sea. When we were about two 
miles out on the bay I was forcibly struck with 
the beautiful picture the little city of Corpus 
Christi presents to the eyes of the beholder from 
that vantage point of observation, as it is 
snugly ensconced among the festoons of climb- 
ing vines, waving oleanders, orange, lemon and 
fig trees. The effulgent rays of the midsum- 
mer sun, casting their golden arrows of daz- 
zling light over our environments, and clasping 
in their fiery embrace the verdant green and 
tropical foliage, with the broad stretch of 
white sand at her feet, bordered with the green, 
willowy salt cedars and the cliffs crowning 



164 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

her fair brow in the background, gave the ef- 
fect of a rare emerald setting in old gold. I 
was perfectly enraptured with the enchanting 
picture, and was never before so fascinated 
with the sublime beauty of the location of the 
little seaside city of perennial sunshine. 

At 1 o'clock Ave had dinner and a feast royal 
it was; not that the menu was exhaustive, but 
that salty appetite to which sailing lends a 
degree of sharpness, which can be obtained 
under no other conditions, made our repast 
heartily enjoyed. 

At 2:40 o'clock we passed out of Corpus 
Christi Bay and entered the dug-out. From 
that point on the left or mainland side, across 
the low-lying sand islands and intervening 
waters, could be distinctly seen with a field 
glass the boom city of Aransas Pass, whose in- 
flated glory was of short dn ration, and it is 
now only a relic of by-gone greatness. On our 
right, along the gulf shore line, could be seen 
the sand hills of Mustang Island, about ten 
miles away, with the village of Tarpon located 
on the northern . end. Viewing these, sand 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 155 

hills as I did on a bright, sunshiny day at that 
distance through glasses, they present a very 
fairy-like appearance. The low-lying sand 
flats that connect the chain of sand hills are 
lost sight of and the intervening space takes 
on the mirage appearance of water, and the 
hills resemble old feudal castles. The picture 
is completed only when skirting the horizon, 
and Tarpon comes before your vision, then 
you are transported with the heavenly loveli- 
ness of the view. It more resembles the city 
of Venice than anything in my imagination. 

We arrived at the anchorage grounds in 
Turtle cove at 6 o'clock, and ran the nose of 
our vessel against the white sand banks which 
form the extreme northern end of Mustang 
Island. As soon as we were safelv moored we 
all scampered away over the sands for relaxa- 
tion from the dav's confinement aboard the 
vessel. 

The captain, and his assistants were left to 
prepare supper which was announced at 7:30 
o'clock, when full justice was done to the enor- 
mous dishes of fried onions, stewed Irish pota- 



166 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

toes, crisp breakfast bacon, strong black cof- 
fee, pickles and numerous other good things 
to eat. Oli, liow fortunate it is to be poor with 
iiii unimpaired digestion! The greatest bless- 
ings man is heir to in this world are good, 
sound digestive organs, a good cook and plen- 
ty to eat. 

A walk was indulged in after supper for a 
mile or two down the beach, and much enjoyed 
bv all. We returned at 10 o'clock greatly re- 
freshed by our walk, and by 10:30 o'clock were 
resting in our respective couches, after having 
made arrangements with a young fisherman to 
escort us to the red fish grounds along the gulf 
shore early the next morning. 

I occupied a cot on the forward deck of the 
schooner in dangerous proximity to the edge. 

After retiring I lay for hours enjoying the 
fresh gulf breezes and admiring the beauties 
of the illimitable space above. It was indeed 
a sight intensely fascinating, with the silvery 
river of heaven directly over head, bordered 
with countless thousands of twinkling stars, 
sparkling, seemingly, like the eyes of angels 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 167 

looking down from the throne of God on a 
sleeping world. While thus trying to beguile 
the charms of fickle Morpheus I was enter- 
tained by listening to our captain recounting 
his harrowing experience with a monster sea 
devil, called the "Scissor Tail." This same 
captain and I have the honor of capturing the 
only specimen of this wonderful marine fish 
that was ever seen in those waters. 

Almost unconsciously I fell asleep. How 
long I slept I cannot say, but I was suddenly 
aroused from my sweet slumber by what at 
first I thought was a plunge head first into the 
gurgling waters of Turtle cove. But as I be- 
^an to come to a clearer sense of mv sur- 
rounding® I realized the fact that great rain- 
drops were pattering in my face. The moon 
had arisen and the world was wrapped in the 
soft rays of fair Luna's silvery light. As I cast 
my eyes heavenward I caught sight of a little 
gulf cloud scurrying away like a mischievous 
child after playing a prank, and it seemed to 
me as it floated away, to form itself into the 
fantastic profile of a child's head and the face 



168 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

was plainly visible, and deducted thereon was a 
smile of derision at my discomfort over the 
trick that had been played upon me. 

We were all up at 5 o'clock the next morn- 
ing, and were away down the beach to the red 
fish grounds with the young fisherman as 
chaperon. I spent three hours wading up and 
down the shore, sometimes in the surf up to 
my armpits and only succeeded in catching a 
few small fish, and I finally quit in disgust. 

After returning to the vessel and partaking 
of a hearty breakfast I visited the life-saving 
station in company with Mr. K. H. Hill, who 
has served his time in the life-saving service 
of the government and retired. He showed 
me through the institution and explained in 
detail the duties of the heroic crew stationed 
there. He explained the uses and workings 
of the breeches buoy, and the reel cart, upon 
which the hawser runs. He also showed me 
the small cannon which is used for shooting a 
line from the shore to and over a stranded 
vessel, and the life car which passes as the 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 169 

breeches buoy does, from the shore to the ves- 
sel, suspended on pulleys from the hawser. 

From that point of interest I visited the fa- 
mous Tarpon Inn, run by Mr. J. E. Cotter. I 
climbed three flights of winding stairway to 
the cupola, where I could get an unobstructed 
view of my surroundings. To the west lie the 
legion of small islands that separate Aransas 
and Corpus Christi bays, to the south stretches 
out Mustang Island for eighteen miles to Cor- 
pus Pass; to the north, across the waters of 
the channel, is St. Joseph Island, a ribbon of 
white sand reaching away to a distance of 
twenty-five miles; to the east is the billowy 
stretch of the Gulf of Mexico, presenting, then 
in its terrible majesty and wildest mood, the 
intenseness of its riotous beauty, rolling moun- 
tains high and breaking on the shore with the 
roar of deafening thunder, leaving a wreath of 
snowy white spume encircling the long 
stretches of the golden rims of the islands, 
and from that point of delectable observation 
presented a picture that was truly tragic and 
sublime. The whitecaps bursting on the bos- 



170 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

om of the deep caused the thought to arise iu 
my mind that it was washday with old Father 
Neptune and he was hanging out his linen 
and every time he would get a piece on the 
line the playful zephyrs would snip it off, and 
each failure was succeeded by a renewed ef- 
fort to accomplish a neA^er-ending task. O! it 
was grand indeed. 

I next visited Mr. K. E. Farley, the taxider- 
mist. He had about one dozen large tarpon 
mounted and ready for shipment to parties 
who had sought them in their native lair and 
had made captives of them. In that state of 
preservation they stood as silent witnesses 
and trophies to the battle royal that had been 
waged at the time of their capture. 

After dinner my family and I crossed the 
channel in a small boat and spent the after- 
noon gathering shells along the beach of St. 
Joseph Island. 

The next morning early my wife and I made a 
trip down the beach of Mustang Island to 
spend a half day gathering fancy shells, for 
which that beach is noted. We sauntered 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 171 

slowly along the shimmering yellow sands for 
nearly three miles. 

On onr journey we came upon the bones of 
an old wreck, a large sailing scow, the "Lake 
Austin, of Brownsville." We stood and gazed 
with awe upon that silent witness of the disas- 
trous results from the terrific fury of the an- 
gry waters when fanned into madness by the 
fierce southern storms. 

We returned to our vessel at 12:30 o'clock, 
had dinner, and at 2 o'clock we weighed an- 
chor for our return trip to Corpus Christi. 

We entered Corpus Christi Bay at 4 o'clock. 
The wind was blowing almost a gale from the 
sou', sou' east and oh, what a ride we did have! 
Tarn O'Shanter's ride was a slow coach com- 
pared to our wild ride on the "Moselle Read." 
The captain just shoved the tiller hard down 
and turned her loose, and away she sped like 
a white sea bird over the waters. Did you ask 
if there were any sick passengers aboard? 
For an answer ask my good friend Rogerson 
and my little son, Ralph, "What the wild 
waves were saying." 



172 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

At 6 o'clock we landed at the Anderson 
wharf, the point of departure, after three days 
and two nights spent on a pleasant and in- 
structive onting. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 173 



A Trip Via The Gulf From Corpus Ohristi to 
Galveston, Texas. 1904. 



VOICE FROM THE SEA. 

"Now would I give a thousand furlongs of 
sea for an acre of barren ground, I fain would 
die a dry death." — Shakespeare. 

At the request of my old salt friend, Captain 
Frank Nolte, on September the 26th, 1904, 1 

boarded his trim little schooner, the "Katie 
M," outward bound from Corpus Chris ti, Texas, 
to the port of Galveston. 

At last Dame Fortune had smiled on me 
and I was embarking upon a trip that I had 
ardently desired to take ever since my arrival 
in the beautiful southwest coast country. 

As I climbed over the railing of the vessel I 
was greeted by Mr. Thomas B. Southgate, one 
of Corpus Christi's leading business men, who, 
in company with his wife and little nephew, 
was brooked for Tarpon Inn, on the gulf coast 
at Aransas Pass, where he would take a fe^ 



174 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

day's respite from business cares and listen to 
the music of the sea. 

I was also pleased to meet Captain Fly, a 
retired sea pilot and ship builder, who was go- 
ing to Aransas Pass to spend a few days with 
his old friend and colleague, Captain Mercer, 
the government pilot at that port of entry. 

We were off at 10 o'clock A. M. Shortly af- 
ter leaving the breeze almost subsided and our 
vessel drifted aimlessly over the glassy wa- 
ters with scarcelv headway enough to answer 
to the workings of the steering gear. Just be- 
fore entering the noted channel that has so 
severely tried the patience and religion of ev- 
ery old "Salt," as well as our noble captain, we 
"spoke" "The Flower of France," just entering 
Corpus Christi Bay. She was three days out 
from Galveston and was loaded to the gun- 
wale with freight. She made such a pretty 
picture, with all her sails spread to the fresh- 
ening breeze, that I could not refrain from 
taking a snap-shot at her as she passed. 

Just before we began the tortuous naviga- 
tion of the channel to which I have referred, 




Off for Galveston, Sept. 26th, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. South- 
gate, Captain Nolte and His Big Hat. 



ON A LARK SBEIN' THE WEST. 177 

commonly called the "Dug-out," a fine breeze 
caught our sails and we went speeding along 
nicely until we reached Shell Banks, which 
point is one of the most acute turns in the 
channel. There, after many futile attempts to 
continue our journey against a "dead-head" 
wind and a strong current, the captain was 
forced to yield to the inevitable. So bringing 
his ship about, he cast anchor and had every- 
thing made comfortable for the night. 

As soon as possible I had my fishing tackle 
out and was making preparations, as my be- 
loved captain thought, to strew the deck with 
enormous catfish, as I had done on a former 
trip aboard the "Katie M." The captain re- 
monstrated strongly against the repetition of 
an act that would prove a Jonah to the trip. 
For once the captain was most agreeably dis- 
appointed, as I soon began to pull in the most 
beautiful sea bass, and in a short time had a 
nice string landed. 

Next morning ( Tuesday) we were all up at 6 
o'clock, breakfast was soon over, then the task 
of getting around the sandy point, that owing to 



178 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

the direction of the wind the evening before 
had obstructed our passageway to the open 
waters of Aransas Bay, was begun. Soon, 
fortunately, a favorable puff of wind filled o ur- 
ea uvas and in a few minutes our trim little 
vessel was skimming the emerald waters of 
Aransas Bay and speeding on to Rockport, 
where some freight had to be discharged, at 
wdiich port we arrived at 10 o'clock. 

I visited the magnificent Hotel Delmar and 
had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Paul B. Sau- 
rensen, owner and manager. He conducted 
me through the immense building to the cu- 
pola, where I obtained a delightful view of the 
bay and surrounding country. 

I returned to the ship at 11 o'clock, as I did 
not want to be the cause of any delav to the 
captain. There we waited until 1 o'clock for 
two of our sailors to return. Finally a search- 
ing party was sent out for them, and when they 
were found and came aboard they were half 
drank. However, we had a most delightful sail 
across the bay, and at 4 o'clock dropped an- 
chor about three hundred yards off shore, op- 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 179 

posite the Teddy Green Club House on St. 
Joseph Island. 

While we were running out our anchor chain 
it parted and our large starboard anchor was 
lost for a while at least. Another, attached to 
a large hawser, was dropped and we were 
then, as we thought, safely moored. Mr. 
Southgate and family, Captain Fly and I got 
into the yawl, and with two sailors to handle 
the boat, we were soon ashore at Tarpon Inn. 

After about an hour spent on shore Capt. Mer- 
cer, the harbor pilot, and I went aboard his 
gasoline launch and in a few minutes we were 
on the deck of the "Katie M," when Captain 
Mercer informed Captain Nolte that it would 
be unsafe to try to get out oyer the bar until 
there was a subsidence of the heavy seas then 
prevailing on the outside. In the meantime 
the live-saving crew, under Captain White, 
had come out to assist in fishing for our lost 
anchor. Several attempts were made to grap- 
ple it, but each attempt resulted in a failure, 
as the tide was so strong the grappling irons 
could not catch the anchor. So we had to 



180 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

wait until the following morning before con- 
tinuing our search. 

The weather was becoming more threaten- 
ing and black, stormy clouds would roll up in 
great billows in the east and come hurtling 
through the heavens, bringing upon us ai down- 
pour of rain, and then as suddenly drift away. 

We retired at 9 o'clock. About 1 o'clock I 
was aroused from my deep slumber by the ter- 
rific storm raging outside. T realized that the 
most severe storm of the night was upon us. 
The lightning was flashing, the thunder was 
reverberating through the heavens and the 
wind was shrieking through the rigging of our 
vessel, sounding as if it were the dying wails 
of the lost soul of the disciple of Bacchus. Our 
ever-watchfnl captain was also aroused from 
his light slumbers bv the raging roar of the 
elements. My bed was made down on the 
floor, alongside of the captain's berth, and as 
he sprang from his downy couch he landed 
squarely on the rotundity of my Anhauser 
front. I uttered a Comanche war cry, the cap- 
tain rebounded from the elastic contact of my 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. igi 

stomach and his bald head smashed with great 
force against the low ceiling of the cabin. 

The Captain rushed upon the deck 

With a firm and mighty tread, 
The lightning flashed, the thunder crashed, 

But still he kept his head. 

He cried aloud, "Say! boys, say! 

The anchor chain has parted, 
And to Davy Jones' locker, our ship 

With all on boari has started. " 

The Captain quickly, with language mild, (?) 

Enthused his sailors' sullen mien, 
And though the wind blew fierce and wild, 

Our ship was brought to anchor again. 

He soon recovered himself, however, and 
jamming his son-wester down on his head and 
shoving his arms into his slicker he made 
about two upward leaps and reached the deck. 

While the captain's dress was rather decol- 
lete and could hardly be called conventional, 
as he had, in his mad rush, omitted pants, 
coat and shoes, still he was presentable in a 
manner suitable to the occasion. 

He found, to his consternation, that the 
large hawser had either parted or the vessel 
was dragging her anchor. In either case she 



182 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

would soon be aground on the flats towards 
which she was rapidly drifting. He soon had 
his crew, including Mike, the Mexican cook, 
on deck, when the 800-pound anchor, the larg- 
est the vessel carries, was heaved overboard, 
and our ship checked in her wild career to de- 
struction. 

After some time spent in getting things on 
deck in shape the captain returned to the cab- 
in with his night attire somewhat moist, as in 
his first rush he had succeeded in buttoning 
only the top button of his slicker, and as my 
dear captain stood in the middle of the cabin 
making a necessary change of linen before 
again retiring, the mellifluous language he 
was regaling me with was almost equal to the 
flow of water that was dripping from his rain- 
soaked clothes. 

At 6 o'clock Wednesday morning we were 
up and had coffee all round. Preparations 
were made to have everything 1 in readiness to 
assist the life-saving crew in another attempt 
to recover the lost anchor. It was not long before 
Captain White and his crew of brave men ran 



ON A LARK SBEIN' THE WEST. 183 

alongside our vessel and announced them- 
selves ready for the search. Soon all the boats 
were out and had formed a large circle with 
several hundred feet of rope to which weights 
were attached, then the boats began drawing 
nearer together until finally the point was 
reached where the anchor lay; then the rope 
fortunately caught on the nuke of the anchor, 
and by the combined effort of all the men it 
was raised and put into one of the boats and 
was soon resting safe in its proper place on 
the forward deck of the "Katie M." Our cap- 
tain was then happy. 

After a 4 o'clock dinner I got out my tarpon 
tackle, and sticking the large tarpon hook 
through the tail of an eighteen-inch catfish, 
cast it overboard and it was not long before I 
was suddenlv jerked from the chair in which 
I was sitting and landed violently against the 
railing of the vessel. I realized for the first 
time in my life that I had a real fish with 
which to deal. Straightening myself up after 
regaining my natural avoirdupois and bracing 
my feet against a cleat which was nailed to 



184 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

the deck, I pulled strenuously on the liue and 
was delighted when I saw an enormous shark 
jump about five feet out of the water, shake 
himself and take a header towards the bottom 
of the bay. The line slipped through my 
hands like blue lightning sliding down a twist- 
ed rod and just as I was thinking I would have 
to let him go, a slack would come in the line, I 
would take a longer breath and haul in on the 
slack again, then slowly the monster could be 
pulled up to the side of the vessel. The sail- 
ors were standing ready to drop a rope around 
the fish, when all at once the greatest anima- 
tion would return to the seemingly almost in- 
ert thing and away it would go, as the old 
Irish woman said, "Like the very ould Mck 
was afther it." Finally, when my hands and 
patience were about worn out the man-eating 
devil yielded to the greater endurance of his 
captor, turned on his back and was pulled to 
where the sailors could get a rope around his 
body; then, with the help of all the crew, it 
was landed upon the deck, where in a little 
while new life seemed to permeate every fiber 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 135 

of its body and its tail came into active ser- 
vice, and holy smoke! how it did thrash things 
about the deck! Chairs, camp-stools and loose 
planks were flying through the air, reminding 
a fellow of a little encounter with his mother- 
in-law. I was jubilant, for I had at last, to my 
intense delight, succeeded in landing a genu- 
ine man-eating shark, nearly seven feet in 
length and weighing nearly two hundred and 
fifty pounds. 

The next morning early I got into the yawl 
and went ashore on St. Joseph Island. I spent 
the day in gathering shells and fishing with a 
throw-line along the gulf shore. 

On returning to the vessel in the evening I 
found the "Flower of France" had cast anchor 
near us. She was on her way back to Galves- 
ton, but like the "Katie M," would have to lay 
in Aransas harbor until the high winds and 
tide subsided. 

Next morning, Friday, the 30th, we all went 
ashore, where we succeeded in catching a fine 
string of fish and nearly a half bushel of fat 
crabs. Our 4 o'clock dinner would have tempt- 



186 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

ed the appetite of the most aesthetic old salt 
that ever sailed the main. 

Shortly after dark we all, except the cap- 
tain, went ashore floundering. This is great 
sport, and much enjoyed by the disciples of 
Walton. This fish is almost as flat as the pro- 
verbial pancake and swims on its side along 
the white, sandy bottom, and has the appear- 
ance of a large black bat. Both eyes are lo- 
cated on one side of its head, giving it a rather 
hideous look. For capturing these fish we 
used sticks about the size and length of a 
broom-handle, in one end of which was firmly 
set a sharp-pointed spike. In one hand we 
held a lighted lantern, in the other hand we 
held the pike, as described above. Each of 
us had a burlap sack suspended from our 
shoulders in which to deposit the flounders 
when caught. We waded along in the shallow 
water near the shore and the light from our 
lanterns would plainly show the fish lying on 
the white sand; then we would make a lunge 
forward with the pike, and were usually suc- 
cessful in pinning the fish to the bottom. It 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 187 

was then put into the sack of the lucky fisher- 
man. We returned to the ship at 12:30 o'clock 
with thirty large flounders weighing on an 
average three pounds each. 

About 5 o'clock next morning, October the 
1st, everything was made ready for putting 
out to sea, as the wind had at last gotten into 
the "nor ? west," and was blowing off shore. 
Our yawl boat was swung into place in the 
davit and in a short time Captain Mercer, the 
harbor pilot, ran alongside, and securing his 
boat in tow, came aboard to take our vessel 
across the bar. 

As we were going through the channel we 
passed near the wreck of a large steamship, an 
old] Mallory liner, which was lost with all on 
board the 17th of November, 1876. I could not 
keep down a feeling of fear as I gazed on the 
frame of the old wreck which told in language 
more impressive than words the weakness of 
man when brought into combat with the de- 
vastating powers of the storm god. 

At 8 o'clock we passed the head of the jet- 
ties out into the open sea. Our progress was 



188 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

very slow, as almost a dead calm prevailed. 
The light land breeze having no effect upon 
the incoming heavy swells of the ocean, our 
vessel rolled and wallowed along in the heavy 
seas all day. The sails* were flapping and 
swinging from side to side, the rigging was 
creaking and groaning, sounding like the limb 
of a tree rubbing against the comb of a haunt- 
ed house on a stormy night. My usual happy 
cast of countenance had taken on a sad, woe- 
begone expression which is only successfully 
duplicated by a boy's first experience with a 
cigar or a quid of old, stingy green. I had 
made a solemn vow that before I would let the 
captain or his sailors know I was sea-sick I 
would! hurl myself into the glassy depths of 
the ocean. Once when the captain saw me 
clap both hands to that region of my anatomy 
which was retching in awful attempts to dis- 
lodge not only my breakfast, but was reaching 
down after the holes in my socks, he asked, 
"Milam, are you sick?" In a very much injur- 
ed tone I answered, "No, I have chronic heart 
disease and I am now troubled with a slight 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 189 

attack." To this statement the captain re- 
plied, "Shiver my timbers! I will everlastingly 
be dad-swizzled if ever 1 saw any living man 
or dead ghost that had his heart located so far 
down toward the regions of his stomach." 

As the evening shades began to close aronnd 
ns a spanking breeze filled our sails, our vessel 
ceased rolling and that fearful feeling of nau- 
sea which had held me a victim throughout the 
day passed off, and when the time came for re- 
tiring I made my bed down upon the hatch 
and the darkness threw her sombre folds 
around me, the twinkling stars lighting up the 
sable countenance of night, kept vigil o'er me 
while I yielded to the soothing charms of sweet 
repose. Rocked in the cradle of the deep, oh, 
how sweet the feeling of peace as my restful 
mind drifted like the mists of heaven through 
the illimitable wonders and beauties of dream- 
land! The ship's watch aroused me at 2 o'clock 
to show me the Pass Oavallo light twenty 
miles away, throwing its shafts of light through 
the shrouded veil of darkness like the ceaseless 



190 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

whirl of a flashing 1 planet revolving around its 
orbit. 

At 6 o'clock Sunday morning we were all 
np. A more perfect day I never saw; it was 
truly God's day. The sun was shining bright- 
ly, the balmy breezes were fanning our cheeks 
and filling our lungs with the rejuvenating ozone 
of the salt air. The wind being nor' by nor'- 
west, the sails filled to their utmost capacity, 
and our little ship settled down to a steady 
rate of speed towards Galveston. All day we 
skirted along Matagorda Island, some forty 
miles off shore. Our hearty old captain and 
his excellent wife Avere both born on that is- 
land and twice came very near losing their 
lives in terrific storms that each time swept 
the island entirely destitute of every living 
creature, excepting those like the captain and 
his wife, who were saved from a watery grave 
by taking refuge in the tallest and staunches!" 
old salt cedars. Captain Nolte was sick in the 
hospital at Galveston when that awful storm 
of 1900 partially destroyed that ill-fated city; 
but, like the true hero he is, he went to the res- 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 191 

die of his more unfortunate brother, and was 
the agent through whom our Heavenly Father 
preserved the precious lives of several human 
beings from a horrible fate that thousands of 
others were doomed to meet. 

At S o'clock in the evening the captain 
cabled my attention to the reflection of the 
electric lights of Galveston. We were nearly 
thirty miles from the city, so the captain reck- 
oned, but we could see distinctly the flood of 
light reflected in the heavens. It vividly 
brought to my mind the lights of the Aurora 
Borealis or Northern lights as they are some- 
times called. This beautiful sight I often wit- 
nessed with delight when I was a boy in Da- 
kota. 

As we n eared the harbor of Galveston we 
Avere continually passing in the semi-darkness 
of the midnight hour curious objects of ghost- 
ly appearance and hearing strange noises, of 
which the most thrilling was the siren song of 
the whistling buov. 

At 1 o'clock Mondav morning, October the 



192 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

3d, we cast anchor in the channel opposite the 
State Quarantine Station. 

We all turned in and slept soundly nntil 
aroused by the health officer at 7 o'clock. That 
State dignitary, and as the captain says, 
"nuisance," boarded our vessel and had the 
captain to show his tongue, which had become 
to some extent coated with the dark brown 
language he used when discussing with me 
the actions of his two ill-natured and mutin- 
ous sailors. 

Th<* suckling of the public teat, with a grand 
flourish, issued a clean bill of health to the 
captain and pocketing the coin of the realm 
tendered him for an imaginary service, cast a 
withering glance of contempt at the captain 
and me to more fully impress upon us the ut- 
ter insignificance of our position and the im- 
portance of his. 

Whereupon he scrambled over the side rails 
of our trim little schooner, dropped into his 
dinghy and was quickly on his way to hold up 
som*» other poor sea-faring man and order him 
to atand and deliver. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 193 

In a few minutes our canvas wasi all spread 
to The early morning's breeze, and we were 
soon gliding into the slip at the foot of Eight- 
eenth street. 

I quickly donned my Sunday togs and in a 
shoH time was seated in a near-by restaurant 
engaged in devouring a large portion of the 
latter end of a fat Texas steer served with on- 
ions, Saratoga chips and other tantalizing 
garnishments on the side. I let out a couple 
of reefs in mv belt, and the remainder of that 
juicy steak would not have made an evening's 
lunch for an invalid Galveston mosquito. 



194 THE HONEST PARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

FKOM OCEAN TO OCEAN. 



TO MY DARLING SISTER, 
MRS. BELL M. LINING, 
AND 
MY DEAR LITTLE CHRISTIAN DAUGH- 
TER, 
RUTH LINING MILAM. 



On June the 7th, at S: 30 o'clock P. M., 1005, I 
left Jacksonville, Florida, for Lufkin, Texas, 
and from there to go to Portland, Oregon, to 
attend the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and to 
visit other western points of interest. In go- 
ing to Texas I passed through Georgia, Ten- 
nessee, Kentucky and Arkansas. As our 
train sped through the old town of Resaca, 
Ga., I could almost imagine I could hear the 
dying echoes of the musketry and the moan- 
ing decadences of the booming cannon of Sher- 
man and Johnston, when the chivalric sons of 
the South met in mortal combat with the no 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 195 

less patriotic ones of the North, and waged 
there one of the hottest fights of that unhappy 
struggle. 

Our iron steed went flying on through tun- 
nels, past beautiful landscapes, and over 
bridges. From our car window, I caught a 
pleasing view of Kennesaw and Lo ikout 
Mountains; but again a feeling of sadness 
stole over me when before my eyes was spread 
the old battle ground of Missionary Ridge; 
and before mv imaginative vision arose thou- 
sands of the spirits of the heroes of the blue 
and the grey, who, upon that fated spot, sacri- 
ficed their lives in what} each thought was a 
righteous and a just cause. 

On to mv "Old Kentucky Home," where the 
skies are the bluest, the waters the clearest and 
purest, where the birds sing the sweetest, and 
whose daughters are the fairest of any spot on 
God's Earth. 

After a day and a half's stop with my sister, 
Mrs. Lining, of Fulton, Ky., I turned Texasward 
via Memphis, at which place I stopped one 
day, and visited all the points of interest in 
and contiguous to that old Southern city. The 



196 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

point of the greatest interest to me was For- 
rest Park, where only recently had been erected 
and dedicated by the now fast disintegrating 
old Confederate veterans the N. B. Forrest 
equestrian statue, the most perfect and beau- 
tiful one of the kind I haye ever seen. My be- 
loved old father, Thomas R. Milam, who is now 
nearing his eighty-first mile-stone, served as 
surgeon under that intrepid cavalryman; there- 
fore as I stood in the shadow of the bronze 
statue, a feeling of the most hallowed venera- 
tion possessed my soul, and I instinctively rais- 
ed my hat in reverence to the great chieftan 
and the cause which he so bravely, but hope- 
lessly defended. The following I copied from 
one of the numerous inscriptions upon the mar- 
ble base: 

"Those hoof beats die not upon fame's crimson sod, 
But will ring through her song and her story; 
He fought like a Titan and stuck like a God, 
And his dust is our ashes of Glory." 

I reached Lufkin, Texas on the 14th, where 
I spent ten days mingling with old friends, and 
on the 24th purchased a ninety days return 




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a 
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(D 



4-1 

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03 

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ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 199 

ticket for the Lewis and Clark Exposition, Port- 
land, Oregon, via Houston, Fort Worth, Tex- 
line, Colorado Springs, Denver, Green River, on 
through Idaho to Portland, and back via 
Southern Pacific Ry. to Lnfkin, the point of 
starting; thereby completing a loop of about 
nine thousand miles, that is, including side 
trips made. The night of the 21th at 9 o'clock, 
I boarded the H. & T. C. train in Houston for 
Fort Worth. Though I passed through Central 
Texas at night I had no regrets, as I had trav- 
eled over that part of Texas before, and I much 
preferred having a daylight run through the 
greatest cattle ranch country of the world; that 
is, that part of Texas lying between Fort Worth 
and Texline, and is generally known as the 
Panhandle. 

At 6 o'clock A. M., at Funis, I changed on to 
the Fort Worth branch of the H. & T. C, That 
is indeed a beautiful country; it is one vast ex- 
pause of undulating prairies dotted with clus- 
ters of forest trees. The green sward of mead- 
ows and waving corn, intermingled with the 
golden wheat stubble, flecking the landscape 
with hues of gold, made a picture that was in- 



200 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

deed lovelv. I arrived at Fort Worth at 8: 15 
o'clock, and left for Denver on the Fort Worth 
and Denver Ry. at 9:45 o'clock A. M. I cer- 
tainly can say that is one among the most pleas- 
ing trips that can be made in any part of the 
great State of Texas. Aronnd Fruitland, the 
famous fruit section of North-west Texas, I 
saw the finest apples I had ever seen in the 
State. On through Wichita Falls, Childress, 
and the noted Goodnight cattle ranch, where 
by crossing the Bison and the Black Angus 
cattle, is produced what is called the Catalo, 
which are the greatest flesh producers known 
to the world. It is no uncommon occurrence 
for them to reach the enormous weight of twen- 
ty-five hundred pounds and often more. 

At 5:30 o'clock A. M., the 26th, we passed 
Grande Station, New Mexico, where is located 
the most extensive sheep ranch of all the coun- 
try. From that point is to be had a splendid 
view of Grande Mountain and Mt. Capaline. 
We crossed the line between Colorado and the 
Territory of New Mexico at 7 o'clock, at what 
is known as The Gap, made famous by "Billie, 
The Kid" during his reign of terror in the West. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 201 

Off to the east spreads out before the eyes a 
most magnificent valley dotted with thousands 
of sheep. We passed Spanish Peak at 9 
o'clock, and arrived at Colorado Springs at 1 
o'clock A. M., a beautiful city of about twenty 
(thousand population, located ait the foot of 
Pike's Peak, and next to Pueblo from a commer- 
cial point of importance, the best town between 
Fort Worth and Denver, and the most popu- 
lar resort on the eastern slope of the Rockies. 
We arrived at Denver, the metropolis of the 
plains, at 3: 15 o'clock, where I caught the Un- 
ion Pacific "Flyer" for Green River, Wyoming. 

At 5 o'clock A. M., the 27th, I awoke almost 
frozen. We had passed Cheyenne and also 
Sherman, the highest point between Omaha 
and Ogden, and were skipping along on a down 
grade from an elevation of about 8,500 feet. I 
was then fully engulfed by the mighty Rockies, 
and through the rifts of the light of a, new day 
I could discern the spectral outline of the snow 
capped peaks as their hoary pinnacles pointed 
heavenward, catching the first shaft of purple 
golden light from the great orb of day. 



202 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

We arrived at Green River at 8:45 o'clock 
A. M., a very picturesque little town, surround- 
ed by low lying foot hills of the Rockies. I got 
a snapshot of Castle Rock and Man's Face Rock, 
two of the natural curiosities of the place. 

There we took the Oregon Short Line that 
runs through Idaho to Portland. Shortly after 
leaving Green River, our train entered quite a 
large valley and a beautiful vision caught my 
eyes, and held me enraptured. Fifty miles to 
the south, iu the northern part of Utah, could 
be distinctly seen the snowy range of the Rocky 
Mountains, a picture so gorgeous that the pow- 
er of the descriptive brain of man fails totally 
to portray the beauty and sublimeness of the 
panorama spread out before the eyes of the de- 
lighted beholder. Soon we crossed the Wyom- 
ing and Idaho State line, and passed the pros- 
perous little Mormon town of Montpelia. For 
several hours our run was down Bear River 
Valley, a splendid agricultural section, watered 
by irrigation. At Bancroft we left Bear River 
Valley, and entered Portiff River Valley, which 
is a smaller stream, and a much narrower val- 
ley, but very productive and picturesque. We 




astle Rock, Green River, Wyoming. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 205 

arrived at Poeatello, tlie great city of the des- 
ert, at 4 o'clock P. M. From there on to Sho- 
shone is the most bleak, dreary, and desolate 
section of all the North-west. We arrived at 
Nampa, Idaho, at 12:45 A. M., where I caught 
the train for Boise, the capital of the State. I 
arrived there at 1 : 45 A. M., and secured nice 
accommodations at the Pacific Hotel. At sev- 
en o'clock in the morning, I was out on the 
streets taking in the sights of the lovely little 
city. I went out to the Hot Springs where is 
located the neatest little natatorium I have 
ever had the pleasure of visiting. I ascended 
the cupola of the building by a winding stair- 
way; from that point of observation, I secured 
a most magnificent view of the surrounding 
country. The Boise River winding along in 
and out among the foot hills of the mountains, 
and the city lying at my feet, bathed in the glo- 
rious sunshine of that mountain region present- 
ed to my eyes a picture that was sublime in its 
beauty; the expanse of irrigated valley, stretch- 
ing away to the south-west, with its great fields 
of verdant alfalfa, and acres upon acres of 
splendid orchards, made a beautiful emerald 






206 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

setting for the yellow sands of the desert. In 
the afternoon I visited the Ada county court 
house, and also the State capital building. I 
had the pleasure of meeting Governor Goodwin 
and his secretary, Mr. Elmer. After spending 
the day pleasantly in that little Gem City of the 
West, I boarded the 5 o'clock train back to 
Nampa, a town of about 3,000 inhabitants. I 
visited the Knights of Pythias Lodge, Nampa 
No. 37, while waiting for the west bound train, 
and will say that I was, as is the custom with 
brothers of the order, treated royally while a 
guest of their Castle Hall. 

After going out again upon the streets I was 
impressed by the exceedingly lengthy twilight 
of the country, where the elevations are so 
great. While writing a letter to mv little 
daughter, Ruth, I looked at my wateh and 
noted the time, which was 10 o'clock P. M., 
and still light enough to write or read without 
the aid of artificial light. 

I caught the westbound train at 12:30 A. M. 
We arrived at Bakers City, Oregon, at 5 o'clock 
A. M., the 29th, altitude 6,000 feet. The city is 
surrounded by snow-capped peaks of the Blue 




"SF 



City of Boyce, Idaho, From Cupalo of Natatorium, 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 209 

Mountains, and is distinctly a mining town. 
We arrived at Umatilla at 1:30 o'clock P. M. 
This town, like Pendleton, is in the semi-arid 
section of eastern Oregon, and to the casual 
observer the question arises, What can sup- 
port cities of the pretensions of the two men- 
tioned? Shortly after leaving Umatilla I ob- 
tained my first view of the wonderful Colum- 
bia river, and though the hills have a dry, 
bleak appearance, both on the Washington 
and Oregon sides of the river, here and there 
could be seen great fields of waving, golden 
wheat just ripening for the harvest, and along 
the railway at frequent intervals were im- 
mense wheat warehouses, showing conclusive- 
ly that bumper crops are raised in that part of 
the West. 

At one of the little stations a tall, cadaver- 
ous, bronzed-faced young Westerner board- 
ed the train bound for Portland. He secured 
a seat by me, and we soon entered into conver- 
sation. I was very inquisitive and pumped 
him severely with questions pertaining to that 
particular part of Oregon. I finally asked him 
if water was not very scarce. He said, "Yes, it 



210 THE HONEST PARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

generally is, but fortunately I have water pret- 
ty handy." "Ah!" I rejoined, "perhaps you 
have a well." "No," he replied, "I haul it." 
"How far do you have to haul your water?" I 
asked. "Only fourteen miles," he answered. 
"Gee whiz!" I exclaimed, "why don't you dig a 
well?" "Damn the difference, stranger," he 
said, "it is just the same distance to> water 
either way, and I had just a leetle rather haul 
it." 

We arrived at Portland, the wonderful city 
of the Pacific Slope, at 5:25 o'clock P. M. I se- 
cured a room temporarily at the Deakum 
Homestead, on Thirteenth street, and after a 
bath, I sought my bed, and soon succumbed to 
the alluring charms of sleep. The following 
morning I went out in search of a room for per- 
manent occupancy during my stay in the "Fair 
City," and secured a lovely room, corner Twen- 
ty-third and Thurmaii streets, three blocks 
from the fair grounds, from Mr. Robt A. Pres- 
ton, a leading druggist and citizen of the city. 
He is a young man and a citizen of Portland 
for only five years, but nevertheless represents 
his ward in the city council. 




«##* 




m 



J 



My First View of The Great Columbia River, Eastern 

Oregon. The Mountains Across The River 

Are in The State of Washington. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 213 

After securing my room I next visited my 
young friend, Mr. Frank Rich, a former Texan 
and fellow-townsman, of Lufkin. 

The remainder of my first day in the Rose 
Garland City I spent on Portland Heights, 
taking a delightful view from the mountains 
overshadowing the city. Looking northeast 
from that elevation, along the Willamette 
river, was decidedly the most beautiful piece 
of scenery I had found on my trip. In fact, 
Portland is the most picturesque and beauti- 
ful city on earth; the scenic effects found there 
are one grand galaxy of beAvitching changes. 
It is the sparkling gem of rarest brilliancy in 
the jeweled crown of nature. 

July the 1st I spent in the grounds of the 
Lewis and Clark Exposition, visiting the points 
of greatest interest, and incidentally, seeing 
the sights along the "Trail." My head was in a 
whirl the whole day through, caused from the 
dazzling and wonderful scenes presented on 
every hand. It was truly a visit to "Fairy 
Land," an opportunity of a life-time, a never- 
to-be-forgotten pleasure. 

While mingling among that throng of hu- 



214 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

inanity I had the good fortune of meeting my 
old Corpus Christi friend, George Grim, who, 
like myself, was rubber-necking at the sights 
in "Gay Paree." But, dear George, this is all 
on the Q. T., and I trust that you Avill forever 
keep inviolate the details of the trip we had 
together, as hand yi hand, we lost ourselves in 
the maze of wonderful happenings while 
marching, foot-sore and weary, over the "Trail." 
On Government Island I found what I be- 
lieve to be the most interesting subject of all 
the Northwestern country; that is, the totem 
poles which were secured from the totem In- 
dians of Alaska, especially for the Lewis and 
Clark Exposition, and they were secured only 
through the influence of our National Govern- 
ment, which pledged for them the most abso- 
lute protection and that they should be re- 
turned at an agreed time in as perfect condi- 
tion as they were received. The posts upon 
which totems are carved are called by our 
North American Indians totem poles. In the 
picture which I took while on my Western trip, 
and reproduced here in a half-tone cut, is shown 
the totem poles of several tribes of our Alas- 







A Typical Little Mountain Town in Eastern Oregon. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 217 

kan Indians, who yet cling to totemism, and 
claim that a kinship exists between their to- 
tem animal and themselves. Each carved sec- 
tion of the totem pole represents an ancestral 
clan totem, as it often occurs that a single clan 
will have several totem animals. A totem is a 
natural object or a class of natural objects, and 
in nearly every instance is an animal, such as 
deer, bear, lion, tortoise and sometimes a bird, 
as the buzzard or eagle. A clan totem is com- 
mon to a whole clan, passing by inheritance 
from generation to generation. 

Totemism is both a religious and a social sys- 
tem. In a religious way it consists of protec- 
tion and respect between the man and his 
totem. In a social way it consists of the rela- 
tions of the clansmen to each other, and to 
members of other clans. They believe they 
are descended from their totem animal, there- 
fore they treat it with the greatest respect, and 
until driven to desperate straits they will not 
eat of any animal which is a part of their 
totem; because it would be the same as eating 
of their own bodies. It often occurs that cer- 
tain tribes hold their totem in such holy awe 



218 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

that they are not allowed to look upon it or 
touch it, but cases of this kind are rare. 

The more respect a clansman shows his 
totem, the more protection he expects to get 
in return, and when the charm seems to be 
failing, in order to get in caste again with his 
totem, the clansman dresses himself in skins, 
or feathers like his totem, or tattooes a picture 
of his totem usually on his forehead. Moqui 
/Indians, believing ffchat their ancestors were 
rattlesnakes, deer, bears, etc., consequently 
believe that when they die that each man ac- 
cording to his clan becomes a rattlesnake, 
deer or bear, according to his totem. 

The special sex totem is the most sacred 
of all totems; for example, the women of some 
of the tribes will have the owl with its sepul- 
chral voice for their totem, and if a man ki'ls 
an owl the women become enraged to a point 
bordering on madness, and attack the offend- 
ing male with murderous intent, in de- 
fense of their totem which is so sacred to their 
sex, and if a woman should kill a bat, the men 
would beat the slayer of their sex totem even 
unto death. Among some tribes it is not only 




Alaskan Indian Totem Poles, Lewis and Clark 

Exposition. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 221 

the sexes and clans that have totems, but it 
often occurs that individuals have them; but 
at the death of the individual the totem ceases, 
which shows the vast difference between the 
ancestral or clan and the individual totem. 
Among some tribes of the American Indians, 
the way they have of arriving at their individ- 
ual totem, is when the youth is going through 
the crucial fast of puberty, which is a cruel 
custom practiced by the North American 
Indians, the animal or bird of which he dreams 
first is his totem. In descent the children be- 
long to the totem tribe of the mother, a man of 
one totem clansman cannot marry into his 
own clan; it is a law so strict that a penalty of 
death is often attached. In regard to the dif- 
fusion of totemism in North America, it pre- 
vailed throughout the tribes of Indians east of 
the Rocky Mountains, and among all the In- 
dians on the North-west coast, except the 
Eskimos, as far south as the United States 
frontier. This belief is not found among any 
of the tribes of Washington or North-western 
Oregon; but nearly all the Alaskan Indians 
are followers of totemism. In regard to the 



222 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

antiquity of totemism it is said by the greatest 
men of scientific research and investigation, 
that it was practiced by the ancient Egyp- 
tians, Greeks and Latins. And Sayce in his 
most elaborate dissertation on his research in- 
to the question, claims to have found evidences 
of the existence of totemism among the an- 
cient Babylonians. However, it is generally 
agreed that the true origin of totemism is en- 
tirely hidden in mystery. 

Sunday morning, July the second, dawned 
bright and clear, there was a rejuvenating balm- 
iness in the air that brought a 3 r outhful flush to 
the cheeks of the aged, and gave to all living 
creatures a new lease of life. 

While the morning was still young, I wend- 
ed my way to the steamboat landing on the 
Willamette Elver, and went aboard the beau- 
tiful steamer "G. C. Spencer," which was to take 
an excursion party eight miles up the scenic 
Columbia River to the Cascade Locks. The 
master of the beautiful steamer, Captain J. 
Allyn, I found to be a courteous, pleasant gen- 
tleman, and had under his watchful care on 
the trip 350 passengers. We were treated as 




Cascade Locks, Columbia River. 



ON A LARK SBEIN' THE WEST. 225 

if we were one great family, and our kind cap- 
tain fathered the crowd in a manner that did 
him credit, He did his very best to have every 
one enjoy the day, and as for myself I will say 
that never in life, did ten hours of delightful 
sunshine slip so pleasantly through the hour- 
glass of time. We left Portland at eight 
o'clock, and after an hour's run down the 
Willamette, we entered the Columbia Eiver. 
At ten o'clock, we made a landing at Van- 
couver, Washington, for the purpose of dis- 
charging some freight; we made no other stops 
between that place and the Locks, where we 
arrived at 2:30 o'clock, passed through and 
immediately turned about for our homeward 
voyage. The morning's trip had been one of 
ever chanceful scenes to the hundreds of de- 
lighted passengers, and every one would occa- 
sionally £*ive wav to uncontrollable ecstacies of 
the soul, as the beauties of the trip unfolded be- 
fore their eyes. Homeward bound, there seemed 
a quietness to steal over all, a relaxation as it 
were, to the overstrained energies of the mind 
to grasp in all its fullness the stupendous 
grandeur of the beauties with which we were 



226 THE HONEST PARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

surrounded. And as the sun was drawing 
near the horizon of the west, a grand pano- 
rama of nature's most elaborate and changeful 
poses was spread before us. About us 
stretched the radiant arch of the sky like a 
great translucent bine pearl, the snow capped 
peaks of Mount Hood, St. Helen, Adams, and 
Raider, in their hoary and magnificent grand- 
eur, were flashing the colors of pink and or- 
ange and crimson as the scintillating rays of 
sunlight leaped from peak to peak. In the 
limpid waters of the swift flowing Columbia 
were reflected the foothills of the mighty 
^Rockies, clothed in their verdant suit of 
green. Muttinoma and Bridal Veil Falls 
could be seen leaping from the brow of the 
cliffs, spreading in a veil of snowy whiteness, 
and reflecting all the hues of the rainbow, as 
they tumbled hundreds of feet in a mass of 
froth, and were caught up in the mighty Colum- 
bia and borne away to the great ocean. It 
was a picture fit for the eyes of the gods to 
feast upon, and one that was blended with an 
awe-inspiring enchantment that is far beyond 
the power of man to describe. At 6:15 o'clock 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 227 

P. M., we landed back in Portland, with a sat- 
isfied feeling that God's holy Sabbath had 
been spent profitably as well as spiritually; 
for in truth I felt that I had been nearer God 
that day than I had ever been. 

Monday I spent some time in selecting 
and purchasing souvenirs for the home folks so 
far away. I also made a trip up on Portland 
Heights, to again drink in the beauties of the 
"Rose Oity" from that the most favored point of 
observation. 

On July 4th — the natal day of our country, 
when Young America sallies forth with pom- 
pous pride of the place that he fills in his 
country's greatness, and in the morning's early 
glow proceeds to make life miserable for the 
canine family and the "Oserlites" — at nine 
o'clock I again entered the fair grounds to 
spend the day. All the State buildings were 
points of great interest, especially the Cali- 
fornia State building which had the most com- 
plete and magnificent exhibit of all the States. 
There I found a mammoth elephant made of 
English walnuts, a miniature State capitol 
building made of almonds, a huge grizzly bear, 



228 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

standing erect, about seven feet in height, 
made of silver prunes, a camel made of pea- 
nuts, and a grand display of horticultural and 
mineral products. 

At 12 o'clock I crossed the Bridge of Na- 
tions over to Government Island; the soldier 
boys were out on their campus, firing the 
Fourth of Julv guns. I found the Government 
display to be something grand indeed. The 
Fisheries Exhibit, was the most interesting to 
me perhaps from the fact that I am a strong 
devotee of Sir Izack Walton. 

The grounds at the dinner hour furnished a 
study in human nature with which one rarely 
meets. Thousands were bnsilv engaged in ar- 
ranging luncheons on the grass covered lawns 



in the shade of the towering walls of the build- 
ings. Tired children, worn out, and hungry 
after the morning's hours spent in chasing the 
will-o-the wisp of youthful desires, were prone 
upon the ground in proximity to the groaning 
baskets of good things to eat, wailing and im- 
ploring for a lion's share of the menu. The 
restaurant grafters, strong-lr.nged and with 
ready speil, stood in front of their respective 




Foreign Building, Lewis and Clark Exposition. 



/ 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 231 

deadfalls, and descanted in thundering tones 
to the famishing crowd the many choice viands 
to be found] at a price commensurate with the 
purse of all. Finally the multitude was serv- 
ed, and then a rush was made to the "Trail" to 
see the daring one-legged bicycle rider Kil- 
pa trick do the act of riding down the dizzy 
heights of the shoot the chute; but the most 
foolhardy act of the daring feats performed, I 
think, was the one where the shoot the chute 
was made in boats, down an inclined track of 
about three hundred feet; when within ten or 
fifteen feet of the water the end of the track 
or flume in which the hazardous run was made, 
the boat, laden with its complement of passen- 
gers, usually ten or twelve, made a leap sheer 
into Guild Lake, and skimmed through the 
water perilously near swamping. These and 
hundreds of other exciting performances of 
similar nature kept the rubber necking "Rube" 
continuously on the jump. I was greatly sur- 
prised to find located among the grafters as- 
sembled along the thoroughfare the famous 
Homer Davenport, the world's greatest car- 
toonist, who is a resident of Silverton, Oregon. 



232 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

At nine o'clock at night, a most magnificent 
display of fireworks was given from the Gov- 
ernment life-saving station; there were thou- 
sands gathered upon the Bridge of Nations to 
witness the glorious pyrotechnic treat. It was 
nearly twelve o'clock before I left the grounds, 
after having spent a Fourth of July that will 
alwavs be remembered as one amonc; the 
brightest days of my life. 

The following day I gave over to seeing sev- 
eral places of interest in and near the city. I 
went out to Mt Tabor, Mountaville, Mt. Scott, 
and St. Johns — the latter place 1 is sixteen miles 
from Portland. Nearly the entire day was 
spent in company with Mr. and Mrs. E. W. S. 
Woods of Stockton, California, whom I found 
to be most congenial and entertaining. 

Jury the Oth, Sacajawea day at the fair, was 
one of the historical features of the great Ex- 
position, when everybody manifested the great- 
est interest in the unveiling and dedication of 
the bronze statue of the brave Indian woman, 
Sacajawea, who piloted the explorers Lewis 
and Clark to that country, the garden spot of 
North America. This bronze tribute to the 




#*' 





Bridge of Nations, Lewis and Clauk ExDosition. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 235 

memory of one of the children of the western 
wilderness, represents also the indomitable en- 
ergy of the ladies of Oregon in their success- 
ful efforts in raising the funds for the laudable 
purpose of erecting the statue. At two 
o'clock a great assembly of people was gath- 
ered about a platform erected just at the head 
of the Grand Stairway overlooking Guild Lake 
below. The unveiling services were opened by 
Rev. Anna IT. Shaw. An address was deliv- 
ered by the Hon. H. W. Goode, President of 
the Board of Managers of the Lewis and Clark 
Exposition, followed by the most famous wom- 
an there is to-day in America, Susan B. 
Anthony, in an address on "Woman and Dis- 
covery." Miss Anthony is now 84 years of age, 
but a power behind the throne in the councils 
of women of this country. Mrs. G. H. Pettin- 
ger recited the beautiful poem "Sacajawea," 
writ ten by Bert Hoffman, editor of the "Eastern 
Oregonian," published at Pendleton, Oregon. 



236 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 
SACAJAWEA (THE BIRD WOMAN) 



" Behind them toward the rising sun 

The traversed wilderness lay — 
About them gathered — one by one 

The baffling mysteries of their way: 
To westward, yonder, peak on peak 

The glittering ranges rose and fell — 
Ah, but among that hundred paths, 

Which led aright ? Could any tell ? 

Brave Lewis and immortal Clark! 

Bold spirits of that best crusade, 
You gave the waiting world the spark 

That thronged the empire-paths you made! 
But standing on that snowy height, 

Where westward yon wild rivers whirl, 
The guide who led your hosts aright 

Was that barefoot Shoshone girl! 

You halted in those dim arcades — 

You faltered by those baffling peaks — 
You doubted in those pathless glades, 

But ever, ever true she speaks! 
Where lay the perilous snows of Spring, 

Where streams their westward course forsook, 
The wildest mountain haunts to her 

Were as an open picture-book! 

Where'er you turned in wonderment 

In that wild empire, unsurveyed, 
Unerring still, she pointed west — 

Unfailing, all her pathways laid! 
She nodded toward the setting sun — 

She raised a finger toward the sea — 
The closed gates opened, one by one, 

And showed your path of Destinyl 




Grand Stairway. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 239 



The wreath of Triumph give to her; 

She led the conquering captains west; 
She charted first the trails that led 

The hosts across yon mountain crest! 
Barefoot she toiled the forest paths, 

Where now the course of Empire speeds; 
Can you forget, loved Western land, 

The glory of her deathless deeds ? 

In yonder city, glory-crowned, 

Where art will vie with art to keep 
The memories of those heroes green — 

The flush of conscious pride should leap 
To see her fair memorial stand 

Among the honored names that be — 
Her face toward the sunset still — 

Her finger lifted toward the sea ! 

Beside you on Fame's pedestal, 

Be hers the glorious fate to stand — 
Bronzed, barefoot, yet a patron saint, 

The keys of empire in her hand ! 
The mountain gate that closed to you 

Swung open, as she led the way — 
So let her lead that hero host 

When comes their glad memorial day !" 

— By Bert Huffman, Pendleton, Oregon. 

Following the reading of this charming poem 
was a song by Chas. Cutter, an educated 
Alaskan Indian, which concluded the exercises 
of the memorial occasion. 

I next vi sited the Idaho Building which had 
the most picturesque site of any of the State 
buildings. My visit was made exceptionally 
pleasant by the courtesies extended me by 



240 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

Miss Clara Mobley and Mr. Bledsoe of Boise, 
who were in charge of the exhibit. To those 
coining- directly from the East, the most won- 
derful building- to be seen is the Oregon 
Forestry Building. This Log Palace is 206 
feet long* by 102 wide, and rises to a height of 
75 feet; 52 immense trees of from five to ten 
feet in diameter, GO feet high, arranged in rows, 
support the galleries and roof. Near this 
building is erected a flag pole 226 feet in length 
without a joint in it. 

I was then tired and worn out, and spent 
the remainder of the day lounging lazily on 
nature's green carpet, in the shade of one of 
Oregon's towering pines. From that natural 
amphitheater I could overlook "the Trail," Guild 
Lake, and the Government Buildings. I was 
most forcibly impressed by the beautiful loca- 
tion of the grounds, where nature has so lav- 
ishly contributed to the beauty of the land- 
scape, and a more ideal and appropriate spot 
could not be found. 

On the Ttli at 1:30 o'clock iu the afternoon 
while standing on the corner of Second and 
Abler streets Availing for an Oregon City car, 



) 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 241 

I was approached by a red-headed stranger, 
with a flowing, fiery red mustache, who polite- 
ly inquired of me if I was going to Oregon City. 
I informed him that I was; he then held out to 
me a package or bundle which I supposed was 
some kind of dry goods. With his tender of 
the package he, in the most polite and suave 
manner, requested me to carry the package to 
the party addressed, Mrs. Eva Skinner, whom 
he informed me I would find in the City Bakery 
next door to the post office. I have always con- 
sidered myself accommodating if anything, in 
fact, to a fault. So in my most courteous man- 
ner T agreed to deliver the package, and when 
the red-headed stranger offered to pay me for the 
service, I indignantly spurned the filthy lucre 
and swung onto a departing car for Oregon 
City. Upon my arrival in the little mountain 
town, I at once sought out the City Bakery ac- 
cording to directions and inquired for one Mrs. 
Eva Skinner, and imagine, if you can, my sur- 
prise when informed by the proprietor that 
he knew no one bv that name. I made several 
inquiries at business houses near by, and 
made a complete failure in gaining any infor- 



242 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

mat ion that would lead to the discovery of the 
"woman in the case." I was advised to seek 
her in the upper town or that part of the city 
located on the mountain; somewhat chagrined 
but not discouraged, I mounted the steps brave- 
ly, which wind around the mountain side for 
nearly a half mile, and just as my wind was 
about gone, and I was on the point of yielding 
to the physical strain and give up the chase, I 
reached the top, and after a short rest I start- 
ed to search out a little bakery in the part of 
the town in which I was told I might secure 
the much desired information that would throw 
some light upon the deepening plot. In a few 
minutes, I, with the shrewdness of a sleuth, 
located the place I was seeking, and hoping 
against fate that there I would find my dear 
Mrs. Skinner or learn of her whereabouts, I 
boldly entered the little shop, and propounded 
the burning question to the little sawed-off 
Dutch proprietor who cheerfully gave me the 
information "Dot lie don't know von Meeses 
She-Kinner und he peliefs dot name vas a 
fraught." I heartily assented to his state- 
ment, and bidding my teutonic friend good- 




Sacajawea. "She raised a finger towards the sea." 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 245 

bye, I sought tlie streets once more where I 
mopped my manly brow, and mentally cursed 
the red-headed stranger who had inveigled me 
into the desperate situation. "But the vil- 
lian still pursued her." A brilliant idea struck 
me— ?r Pis a wonder it didn't kill me — Why had 
I not thought of it before? I would hie myself 
away to the post office and there inquire wheth- 
er the elusive Mrs. Eva Skinner received mail. 
Oh! happy thought! Away I sped down that 
long flight of steps to the lower town like a 
loose boulder falling from the craggy cliffs 
above. The slow plodding citizen would stop, 
and gaze after me as if he had suddenly come 
in chilly contact with a ghost or a fleeing mad- 
man. On reaching the post office, I made my 
way to the general delivery window, and pok- 
ing my head through, I called for the postmas- 
ter, who came forward at once. In excited 
tones I asked for the mail of Mrs. Weaver 
Skinner, and was informed there was no per- 
son by that name who received mail at the 
office. Then I discovered a three link pin on 
the lapel of the coat of the postmaster; I there- 
upon gave him the distress signal of the order, 



246 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

handed him the package through the window, 
and explained the situation. The brother took 
hold of the package gingerly, and critically ex- 
amined it, thinking perhaps as I had, that it 
might possibly contain a baby or some other 
infernal machine. But as there seemed not to 
be the least trace of tragedy connected with it, 
he turned to the address and at once exclaim- 
ed, "Why, certainly the lady to whom this pack- 
age is addressed gets mail here regularly; why 
didn't you inquire about her when you came 
in?" He concluded his remarks by saying. 
"You seem to be considerably worried, I will 
take pleasure in delivering the package." I 
told him I was all right, and thanked him warm- 
ly from the depth of my heart for extricating 
me from the terrible predicament in which 1 
had been placed. I then and there made a 
solemn vow to mvself that I would never take 
another package (especially from a red-headed 
stranger) without first being fully advised as 
to its contents, and given the most explicit di- 
rections as to delivering. 

With my mind at rest and my nerves quieted, 
I started on a tour of inspection of the beauti- 




Entrance tc Forestry Building, Lewis and Clark 
Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 249 

ful little city, which is located near the Willa- 
mette Falls. I crossed the suspension bridge 
which is eight hundred feet long and one hun- 
dred and twenty feet above the bed of the 
Willamette river, to the east side, where are 
located two of the largest paper mills in the 
world. I am under obligations to Mr. Edd 
Shoenheinz for courteously showing me through 
the immense plant of the Willamette Paper 
Co., and explaining each department in a man- 
ner so interesting that it made my visit en- 
joyable to the highest degree. At 6 o'clock 
P. M., I went aboard the steamer Altona, bound 
down the river for Portland, Avhere I arrived 
at 7:30, having made a run of thirty miles on 
the blue waters of the Willamette; but the 
beauties along this stream do not begin to com- 
pare with the rugged beauty of the noble Co- 
lumbia. 

Part of the following day I spent in the cher- 
rv orchards of St. Johns. The Eoval Ann and 
other varieties of cherries can be found there 
in season in the greatest degree of luscious- 
ness. 

On my return to Portland, I visited the City 



250 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

Hall; it is an elegantly equipped building, and 
has the most extensive free museum I have 
ever seen. 

July the 9th, another dawning of a beautiful 
Sabbath day, I caught one of the early cars foi 
Vancouver, Washington, and at ten o'clock I 
left the car and went aboard the ferry boat 
"Vancouver," which bore us across the Columbia 
river over to the great State of Washington. 
In a short time the town was flooded with hun- 
dreds of Sunday visitors from the "Fair City." 
Down at the foot of Main street near the purl- 
ing waters of the river, I found a grand old Cot- 
tonwood tree, now in its dotage and fast giv- 
ing way to the withering touch of time. One 
hundred years ago, when this tree, then in its 
prime, stood towering towards the heavens, and 
spreading its protecting branches over the lap 
of mother earth, there gathered beneath its 
welcome arms and inviting shade the great 
Hudson Bay Co.'s western agents, who for six 
months camped, slept, and made their home 
under the soughing boughs of this giant of the 
forest. The surveyors for the company made it 
the witness tree of all their surveys, and it is 





Alder Street, Portland, Oregon. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 253 

to this day called the "Old Witness tree." By 
permission I secured a walking' cane from its 
bra u dies which I Avill always keep in memory 
of the day I stood beneath its cooling shade 
and gazed with enraptured vision upon the 
heaving bosom of its life companion, fair Co- 
lumbia. 

The city of Vancouver, which was named 
from the great explorer, Vancouver, was 
founded by the Hudson Bay Company in 1826, 
and is one of the oldest settlements on the Pa- 
cific coast. One among the finest equipped 
military posts in the United States is located 
there. 

I got back to Portland in time to attend di- 
vine services at the First Presbyterian church, 
corner Twelfth and Alder streets. I had the 
pleasure of listening to that most eminent di- 
vine, Rev. Dwight Hillis, of New York, and 1 
heard the most eloquent, simple and delightful 
sermon to which it has ever been my pleasure 
to listen. Subject of his discourse was, "Jesus 
Christ as the Great Commoner." 

The morning of the 11th, I spent at the 
Armory building, attending the opening meet- 



254 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

ing of the Medical Association of America. A 
finer and more representative body of men 
could not be collected from the four comers of 
this great country than was there on that 
memorable occasion assembled. The invocation 
was delivered by Dr. Morrison. The address 
of welcome on the part of the State of Oregon, 
in the absence of the Governor, was delivered 
by Judge George, who, iu his happy vein, 
caught his audience, and held them spell-bound 
to the close of his discourse. In part he said: 
"For the benefit of the Democratic doctors 
present, of whom I can locate quite a number 
by their open, honest faces, though. I am a Re- 
publican (I can always spot a Democrat by 
his honest expression), I want to say to them 
if they are out of a job at home and their peo- 
ple are distressingly healthy, all they have to 
do is to come to> Republican Oregon, where 
we have a Democratic Governor, and in the 
Republican city of Portland, a Democratic 
Mayor, and in the Republican county of Mul- 
tinoma, a Democratic Sheriff and County At- 
torney, and I will guarantee the Republicans 
of Oregon will put them in office." In a grand 




The Terrible Flight of Steps that Lead to the. Little 
Dutch Bakery- on Oregon City^Heights. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 257 

peroration he touched upon the beauties of the 
"Hose City" and said: "What a grand thought it 
was of the Creator of the universe that He, in 
His infinite wisdom, had seen fit to run the 
two greatest rivers of the world right by the 
doors of Portland." All the morning I had 
been addressed as "doctor" and at 12 o'clock, 
when I left the building, I was somewhat 
swelled up with egotism; stuck on myself, as 
it were. I know it is on account of my regal 
bearing that I am so often taken for some great 
celebrity. After dinner my young friend and I 
caught a car fo rEsta Cado, the longest trolley 
ride in the West, being 60 miles from Portland 
lo Casadera, the terminus of the line, which is 
five miles west of Esta Cado. On our ar- 
rival at Selwood, a suburban town of Portland, 
we stopped and filled our pockets with those 
luscious Royal Ann cherries and caught the 
next car, and went spinning along through a 
most lovely agricultural country up Johnson 
creek, a small stream which runs through the 
valley of the Willamette and empties into that 
river. Without hesitation or fear of successful 
contradiction, I can say that this particular 



258 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

section is the richest farming country in the 
United States. I asked a farmer on our car 
what the lands through which we were pass- 
ing were worth per acre. He informed me that 
the improved lands would bring from two 
hundred to four hundred dollars, the unim- 
proved would sell for about one hundred dol- 
lars per acre, and it would cost one hundred 
and twenty-five dollars per acre to clear it. He 
further told me that he had spent as much as 
fifty dollars in blowing up and getting rid oi 
one tree and its stump, on which he used one 
hundred pounds of blasting powder. 

We arrived at Casadera, the terminal sta- 
tion, near the head waters of the beautiful lit- 
tle Clackamas river, at 6 o'clock. On inquiry 
we found that bv making an extra effort we 
would have time enough before the last car 
left for Portland to climb the steep, frowning 
cliffs that overlook the valley, and reach a 
point on the summit from Avhere we could gel 
a good view of Mount Hood. After a climb oi 
nearly two thousand feet, almost perpendicu- 
larly upward, we reached the summit, where 
a grand mesa falls gentlv back to the base oi 








Oregon City, Willamette River and Suspension Bridge. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 2<>1 

the snow-capped peak, and from where we 
stood we could see, apparently, only a stone's 
throw before us, the peak of that magnificent 
mountain, with its drapery of white caught in 
a flood of sunlight, making a setting of fiery 
opal in the heavens. As we regretfully turned 
away from the heavenly picture we felt thai 
we had been amply rewarded for our most 
arduous labors in gaining that point of obser- 
vation. We started back down the mountain 
at 8 o'clock and at 9 o'clock reached Esta Cado, 
where we caught the last car in, and arrived at 
Portland at 11:30 o'clock P. M. 

At 8:30 o'clock P. M., July the 13th, I took 
the Southern Pacific train ("The Open Win- 
dow Eoute"), homeward bound. Oli, what a 
sad thought! I must leave my much beloved 
Portland. That was the last day (hat perhaps 
I would ever spend within her hospitable 
gates. But I shall always look back to my vis- 
it to the beautiful city with pleasure and m 
my retrospective moments glean from that, tin? 
brightest page of my life, a solace from the 
fact that I once was the honored guest of 
proud Portland. On the morning of July the 



262 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

14th, at 4:30 o'clock, I was awakened by the 
intense cold. We were jnst entering the foot- 
hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. By the 
time we reached Roseberg it was getting light 
enough to get a view of the country through 
which we were passing. On each side of the 
road were extensive forests of Madrona, a 
very beautiful tree resembling very much the 
graceful eucalyptus. Down Cow creek canyon 
were numbers of hop farms and bee ranches. 
At 10 o'clock "Ye turntd dot sumit o-fer." We 
had been climbing the steep grade with a 
double header for several hours. Merlin was 
the first station over the divide. We reached 
Grant's Pass at 11 o'clock, on Rogue river, 
475 miles from San Francisco. Medford I 
found to be a very progressive little town in 
the Rogue river valley, which is a fine agricul- 
tural part of the State. The grain and mineral 
display at the depot showed not only the mamy 
products of the country, but it also displayed 
the progress of its citizenship. We arrived at 
Ashland at 1:30 o'clock. There, lined up along 
the track were the noisy small boy and the de- 
crepit old men and women of the community 




Mountain Scene'From Our Train, Southern Oregon. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 265 

vending fresh fruits right from the orchards 
and gardens, such as strawberries, raspber- 
ries, peaches, cherries and the most delicious 
cultivated blackberries I have ever eaten. We 
left Ashland prepared to climb the divide or 
summit over the Siskiyou mountains with two 
engines in front pulling and one behind push- 
ing. We arrived at Siskiyou at 3 o'clock, ele- 
vation 5,000 feet above the sea level. Just af- 
ter leaving Siskiyou we ran through a tunnel 
one mile in length, and as we again came out 
under the sun-kissed skies a glance to the 
southeast revealed just the peak of Mount 
Shasta, towering grandly in its immaculate 
whiteness above the mountains of less magni- 
tude. I enjoyed to the fullest extent that, my 
first view of the hoarj^-headed old monarch of 
the Sierra Nevada range. In a short time we 
crossed the State line of Oregon and Califor- 
nia and soon dropped down into the Klamath 
river valley. However, we kept our three en- 
gines, for in a little while we began the last 
climb of the Sierra Nevada s. We reached 
Weed station, the summit, at 6:30, altitude 
4,000 feet. From there we made a drop of 



266 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

nearly 4,000 feet over the finest piece of rail- 
road building' in the world, down to Shasta 
Springs, at the foot of Mt. Shasta. The scen- 
ery along the turbulent little stream of Shasta 
was the most thrilling and fascinating of all 
my trip. At 7:40 o'clock our train made a 
five-minutes' stop at the springs so all the 
passengers could get a draught of the pure 
elixir of life which is bubbling freely from the 
riven side of Mount Shasta. All who drink 
from the fountain retain their youth and beau- 
ty; the old are made young, the ugly are made 
beautiful, and every old maid who partakes of 
the God-given nectar will soon thereafter be 
united in holv wedlock to some handsome 
young Lochinvar out of the West. Little won- 
der at the crowd that surged around that foun- 
tain of promise of the world's desire! The few 
precious moments spent there were devoted to 
strenuous efforts on the part of the traveler to 
get a full potation of the sparkling liquid of 
life. 

About 9 o'clock in the evening we were run- 
ning along parallel with a roaring, foaming 
little mountain stream. I asked the porter if 




Toll Falls and Table Mountain, Sierra Nevada Range, 

Southern Oregon. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 269 

he knew the name of the mad little torrent. I 
was informed that it was the Sacramento 
river. I could hardly realize the fact that the 
little, bounding stream dashing in and out 
among the great boulders lying in its path to 
the sea was really and truly the river that I 
had always in my mind associated with the 
great streams of the world. It is said, however, 
that by the uniting of the atoms of matter 
thrown off into space the largest planets of the 
heavens are formed. The oak, the king of the 
forests, symbolical of strength and vigor, 
springs from a tiny little acorn, and so it is 
with the great waterways of the world; the 
beginning of the functions they perform in 
their ceaseless travels is from little springs 
gushing forth from the crest of some towering 
mountain. 

The next morning at 5 o'clock, when I looked 
out over the immense stretch of prairie through 
which we were passing I began to realize the 
magnitude of California's resources. Wheat- 
land, Lincoln and Sacramento are in the midst 
of the great Avheat producing section of the 
State. We arrived at the latter place, the capi- 



270 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

tal city, at 6 o'clock. The great dome of the 
State capitol could be seen from the train as Ave 
were entering the city. After a fifteen minutes' 
stop, we crossed the Sacramento river which 
presented quite a different appearance from that 
presented the night before at D'oclock, when, 
for the first time in my life, T caught a glimpse 
of it in its laughing, rollicking chase over the 
rocky defile of the mountains to the plains 
below. 

Soon after leaving the city we entered a 
great marsh or low, vet land, Avhich extends 
for miles and miles, stretching out to a greater 
extent than I had ever seen before. After 
about one hour's run through the unsightly 
marsh we dashed out into the beautiful ilower- 
b: decked prairie again. 

There an intense system of farming is car- 
ried on, and diversification is the slogan of the 
farmer. Our wa}^ was almost lined Avitk great 
fields of asparagus, acres upon acres of vine- 
yards, vast orchards of almonds and English 
walnuts, with an occasional grove of olives, 
making an emerald setting of green for the 
beautiful landscape picture. I, hoAvever, noticed 





Mount Shasta, the Monarch of the Sierra Nevada 

Range. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 273 

that we kept encroaching upon the low moun- 
tains of the Coast Range nntil 8 o'clock, when 
we reached Benicia, on San Francisco Bay, 
where our train ran on to the ferry boat, "So- 
lano," the largest boat of the kind in the world. 
It is 425 feet in length, 140 feet in width, and 
has eight 300 horse-power boilers, and on the 
trip across, a distance of one and a quarter 
miles, carried two entire sections of passenger 
trains of thirteen coaches each. 

The Sacramento river flows into the San 
Francisco Bay near Benicia. The length of the 
bay is nearly 100 miles. We ran into Oakland, 
16th Street Station at 9 o'clock. At Oakland 
ferry Ave changed from our train to the beauti- 
ful ferry boat, "Berkley," made the run across 
the bay, four miles, and landed in San Fran- 
cisco, at the foot of Market street, at 9:30 
o'clock, where, for the first time in life, I en- 
tered the greatest city of the West, the Mecca 
of the "Forty-Niners," the golden gateway to 
the Orient, the true metropolis of the Pacific 
slope. On the corner of California and Sutton 
streets I caught a cable car for the Cliff House. 
There I enjoyed a never-to-be-forgotten scene. 



274 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

The magnificent hotel is built upon a point of 
cliffs jutting out into the seething, rolling 
breakers of the Pacific. It stands about forty 
feet above high tide, and as I looked seaward 
from the high promontory and beheld the 
long, rough surges rushing towards me and 
tremblingly listened to their angry roar as 
they were Hung back from the caverned battle- 
ments at my feet, I felt as if the very foundation 
of creation was crashing around me. The un- 
ceasing fury of the waters as they dash against 
the rocks, with a roar of reverberating thun- 
der, throw clouds of spray into the air that oft- 
en immerse the front of the building in a 
misty veil of white. Hundreds of sea lions 
were sporting and sunning themselves upon 
the seal rocks which stand a few hundred feet 
out in front of the hotel, almost submerged in 
the briny deep. Near the Oliff House is located 
the beautiful Sutro Park, in which I spent 
nearly an hour of my limited time, then caught 
the cars back to the city. 

On the way back we ran near the Golden 
Gate, the entrance to San Francisco Bay. 
Lime Point, a penal station, is situated on the 




The Big Ferry Boat Solans on San Francisco Bay, 
The Largest Boat of the Kind in the Word. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 277 

north side of the entrance, and Fort Scott is 
situated on a point on the south side. The 
passage way for vessels there is very narrow 
and well guarded by the finest fort defense 
guns in the world, making it like the Straits 
of Gibraltar — impregnable. At 6th street I 
transferred to the Golden Gate Park car and 
arrived at the park at 2 o'clock. It is the larg- 
est and grandest park in America, and is sur- 
passed by very few in the world. It comprises 
1,000 acres or more, and the attractions to be 
found within its grounds are the fruits of 
years of labor and research, a detailed de- 
scription of which would indeed be voluminous. 
After spending two hours there I again sought 
the city, for I was tired and hungry after my 
strenuous chase after the things beautiful. At 
Westerfield's restaurant, 1035 Market street, 1 
spent nearly one hour busily engaged in dis- 
posing of a smothered chicken and trimmings, 
a quart of California "Logan berries" and a 
snowy peak of ice cream. 

At 6 o'clock I left San Francisco on the 
Coast Line Limited, south, through the Santa 
Clara valley, Redwood, Palo Alto, where the 



278 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

great Lick Observatory is located, and through 
San Jose, in the midst of the fruit section. 
That great valley lies between some low off- 
shoots of the Coast Range, immediately along 
the shores of the Pacific on the west, and the 
main range of the same mountains on the east. 
I arrived at Castorville at 9:30 o'clock P. M. 
and caught the train for Del Monte, the most 
celebrated of all the noted resorts of California, 
where I arrived at 11 o'clock P. M., and at once 
sought the Hotel Del Monte, went to my room, 
and was soon sleeping soundly. 

Sunday morning, July the 16th, I had break- 
fast at 6:30 o'clock. It was the most appetiz- 
ing menu to which I ever sat down. The hotel 
is beautifully located in the center of a 150 
acre park, only one-half mile from the Pacific 
beach, making it one of the most delightful 
places in the world for a secluded rest, entirely 
free from the cares of this busy, bustling life. 
For two Lours I rambled through that garden 
of Paradise, lost in holy admiration of the beau- 
ties with which I was surrounded. There were 
great mounds of richly colored flowers, filling 
the air with the sweet odors of the tropics, ma- 




Cliff House, San Francisco, Defying the Furies 

of Old Ocean. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 281 

jestic forest trees whose long arms were fanned 
into serpentine motion by the early morning's 
zephyrs fresh from the bosom of the Pacific, 
while the sweet-noted songsters of the woods 
filled the air with enchanted music. It was a 
picture that creates poets, a feast for the soul 
which brings a nearness to God that is truly 
sublime. About 9 o'clock I emerged from the 
labyrinths of the park full upon the beach of 
the ocean and again drank in the ozone of the 
health-giving climate. After a walk of several 
miles along the beach, which, by the way, is the 
most beautiful between San Francisco .and Los 
Angeles, I made my way back to the station, 
where I caught the 11 o'clock train back to 
Castorville. 

There I caught the train for Los Angeles at 
11:45 o'clock. At 1:40 o'clock we passed Paso 
Kobles, noted for its hot mud springs, which 
are patronized quite extensively for their me- 
dicinal properties. At 3 o'clock we reached 
the summit of the San Louis mountains, and 
discarded one engine, as we had been using 
two for some time. We arrived at San Louis 
6'Bispo at 3:15 o'clock, and at El Pizpo at 3:40 



282 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

o'clock. The latter place is located on the white 
sands of the Pacific beach, and is a boom place 
promoted by the Los Angeles real estate agents. 
In Ora Grand valley we passed through miles 
and miles of Irish potato fields and sugar beet 
farms, with always a great rambling sugar re- 
finery in sight. 

Shortly after 4 o'clock we left the beautiful 
Ora Grand valley and dodged into the moun- 
tains again, but in a little while were whisked 
back out of the mountains, down near the 
beach, within a few hundred yards of the surf. 
At the little station of Surf we were treated to 
a grand view of the breakers as they broke in 
white billowy festoons of froth for miles along 
the sandy beach. We reached Santa Barbara, 
the old mission town, at 7 o'clock. We passed 
through Ventura county, the greatest beet and 
bean producing section of that part of the West, 
and arrived at Los Angeles at 10:30 o'clock 
P. M. 

By 6 o'clock the next morning I had eaten 
my breakfast and was out on the streets of 
"The Citv of Angels." One must tread softly 
over the holy ground, for he might perchance 





One of Nature's Pictures Which Makes the Heart 
of the "Old Forty-niner" Leap at Recol- 
lections of the Past. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 285 

disturb the serenity of the godly real estate 
agents, after whom the city derived its name. 
'Tis said the purse of the Eastern tenderfoot 
ceases to jingle after an encounter with one of 
those irresistible bipeds of the Celestial City 
their name is legion and their charms are most 
seductive, and woe unto him who wats not of 
their schemes. 

I boarded a car for Venice, twenty-three 
miles awav, located on the Pacific beach. The 
trip was through a farming country and the 
oil fields of Southern California. From the car 
I counted thirty -five oil rigs in sight at one 
time. Fifteen miles from the city, at Sawtelle, 
is located the Old Soldiers' Home and Military 
Barracks. At Santa Monica I got off the car, 
and went to the beach for a three and a half 
miles walk to Venice. To the north of Santa 
Monica a few miles, the Coast Range mountains 
make a plunge into the depths of the Pacific, 
and are forever lost to the sight of man. That 
was the first time in my life that I ever chased 
an entire range of mountains into the engulfing 
arms of the ocean. I enjoyed the roar of the 
breakers, sounding in my ears like the detona- 



286 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

tion of distant cannon. At 10 o'clock I pulled 
into Venice leg-weary and exhausted; the tide 
was high and I was consequently forced back 
into the deep, dry sands, where 1 really had to 
pull myself along. I found Venice located in 
an ideal spot for a resort, and millions of money 
is being expended to make it second to none in 
America. I returned to the Union Depot, foot 
of Main street, at 11:45 o'clock, just in time to 
get my baggage and catch the 12:01 flyer, East. 
Down Los Angeles Valley, after leaving the 
city, is one grand vista of orange groves and 
walnut orchards. At Cucamongo is a vineyard 
covering 3,000 acres, where is made the famous 
Cucamongo wine. On our arrival at Colton at 
2 o'clock all the passengers laid in a supply of 
oranges sufficient to last across the desert; the 
fruit was sold for a mere pittance. I purchased 
the most beautiful large golden navel oranges 
at the rate of fifteen cents per dozen. From 
Colton one gets a grand view of the surround- 
ing country. Mount Lowe, at the foot of which 
nestles Pasadiena, the little "Gem" of Southern 
California, and Old Baldy stand in bold out- 
lines. Eedlands and Riverside, two lovely little 




Nature and Art in Del Monte Park. California 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 289 

cities, are also in plain view, making quite a 
pretty and interesting picture. 

After leaving Col ton, a run of thirty-five 
miles takes one over the mountains, out of that 
paradise, and drops him into a living hell, or 
more correctly speaking, it will put him into 
the great desert of Southern California, which 
stretches away into Arizona and New Mexico. 
As we climbed the divide to Beaumont, the 
summit of the San Bernardino range of moun- 
tains, which is 2,256 feet above the sea level, 
the air became cool and crisp; quite a contrast 
to the conditions we had just left and to those 
we found prevailing on the east side of the 
range. Old Gray Back on the left and San Ja- 
cinto on the right, with their serrated snowy 
peaks reaching an altitude of 11,000 feet, waft- 
ed me an icy kiss as a last farewell from the 
great snow-capped peaks of the West. Though 
there are mountains on south as far as South- 
west Texas, we then left the snowy range. 

We arrived at Indio at 4:35 o'clock, which is 
twenty-two feet below sea level, located in 
Coachula Valley, where a system of artesian ir- 
rigation is carried on and the earliest vegeta- 



290 THE HONEST FARMER PROM ARKANSAW 

bles in tlie United States are raised; a month 
earlier than anv other seeiion of Southern Cali- 
fornia. Jnst after passing* the small elation of 
Mecca we came in sight of the wonderful in- 
land sea which has been made in the last six 
months by the flood waters of the Colorado 
river breaking through the flood gates of an ir- 
rigation canal near the city of Yuma. The fill- 
ing in of this inland dry salt basin is the great- 
est phenomenon of the century. The water, 
which covered an area estimated to be over 
6,000 square miles, was from three feet to two 
hundred and fifty feet deep, and was still rising 
at the rate of two inches per day. The theory 
is advanced by the most learned scholars of the 
country, that at some time in the ages of the 
past, the great salt basin was a part of the Gulf 
of California into which flowed the Colorado 
river and that the washings brought down from 
the canyon of the Colorado formed a bar at the 
point which is now known as Old river and 
thereby forced the Colorado to change its 
course and seek an entrance to the Gulf of Cal- 
ifornia farther south; and during the unknown 
centuries that have elapsed since the occur- 




"One Touch of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin" 
Del Monte Park, California. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 293 

rence the waters of the great basin, having no 
source from which to replenish, were dried up 
by evaporation. Eleven miles east of Mecca 
and located, on the salt sea is Salton Station, 
which is 205 feet below sea level. The salt 
works located there were nearly submerged by 
water; the two smoke-stacks sticking above the 
water a few feet showed where, only a few 
months ago, was a village of several hundred 
souls and a thriving business. But now a death- 
like stillness hangs like a pall over the sur- 
roundings, and the rippling waves chant a dirge 
as they break over the lost town. The South- 
ern Pacific Railway Company was then engaged 
in making a survey several miles farther back 
near the low range of mountains, where the 
road will be rebuilt on safe ground, as there 
were nearly five miles of the track in a very 
unsafe condition. The railway company had 
the track protected to some extent by rip-rap- 
ping and sand-bagging. As our train crossed 
slovvly over the dangerous piece of track the 
waves were lashing the embankment and cov- 
ering the steel rails with a salty spray. 

Salton prior to the erection of the salt works 



294 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

was called "Old Beach," from the indications 
on every Land of a prehistoric sea, and thereby 
hangs a tale which was related to me by Mr. 
Schelalas, of Phoenix, Arizona: "It is the cus- 
tom with the great Western Union Telegraph 
Company to change their employees around as 
their health or demands of the company justi- 
fy. Quite a good many years ago there was a 
young operator working for the company in the 
State of New York, who was in poor health and 
wanted to go West and take a station. The 
company, as usual, left the choice as to what 
part of the West he would locate in wholly to 
his own choosing. So after a long and careful 
study of the stations of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad and its numerous Western branches 
where a change could be made, he finally se- 
lected Old Beach, which sounded good to him. 
He made straightwa}^ to a sporting goods store 
and laid in a supply of fishing tackle, tuna and 
also baracuda hooks and lines; in fact, the fully 
equipped himself for a fierce engagement with 
all the finny tribe. With his pass in his pock- 
et, he boarded the train for the great and to 
him the unknown West. One evening just as 




The Great Sea, Southern California, Showing the 
Rip Rap and Sand Bags to Protect the 
S. P. R'y Tracks. 



ON A LARK SEElN' THE WEST. 297 

the western horizon was flooded with a flame 
of burnished gold from the radiance of the set- 
ting snn, the unsophisticated young lunger 
stepped from the train at Old Beach. As the 
iron steed of the desert sped away from him 
across the trackless waste, he cast his eyes 
about him in an effort to take in his surround- 
ings; but nowhere could he discover anything 
that looked like the mighty ocean he expected 
to finft. From out of his state of amazement, 
he was suddenly aroused by a hearty slap on 
the back, and turning he discovered, standing 
but who he soon learned was like himself a 
seemed to be a mixture of Indian and Mexican, 
by his side, a bronzed faced young man, who 
product of York State, and had been sent West 
by the company for his health, and was then 
tanned and rugged. The dessert winds and cli- 
mate had worked their charms. After a few 
formalities the tenderfoot inquired how far it 
was to the ocean, and was almost paralyzed 
when informed that it was three hundred miles. 
Why in the thunder then, is this called Old 
Beach? he asked. He was informed that it 
was so called because in ages of the past, per- 



298 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

haps millions of years ago, the waters of the 
Gulf of California lapped the hills and table- 
lands that border upon what has been known 
since the memory of man as the Dry Salt Basin. 
Swearing softly at the dirty trick his imagina- 
tion had played him, he determined he would 
do some fishing anyway, so opening up his 
box of tackle he extracted therefrom a fine tu- 
na outfit and a book of flies; the latter he had 
carefully selected in the East for use in 
the supposed beautiful mountain streams near 
the station. After placing the book of flies on 
the hook, he got upon a box car standing on the 
siding, and throwing the bait the full length of 
the line, out into the desert he, after carefully 
lashing it to the car, descended to the ground, 
and went into the office where he was to re- 
ceive his instructions in the work of the isolat- 
ed station. The next morning on going out to the 
car, he was utterly astounded when he discov- 
ered his catch. A chucawalla had swallowed 
the book of flies, a great desert night-hawk had 
gulped down the chucawalla, a struggling coy- 
ote had eaten the hawk, and a hungry, vora- 
cious mountain lion had devoured the coyote. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 299 

At that terrible sight his nerves, which were 
already at a low ebb, entirely failed him, and 
hurrying back to the little office he swore that 
he would die and be damned before he would 
stay in a country where the animals and all 
other denizens of the silent wilderness subsist- 
ed upon each other, and he caught the next 
east bound train for York State, thoroughly 
disgusted with the West in general and Old 
Beach in particular." 

After leaving Salton, the road runs almost 
parallel for 30 miles or more with the shores of 
the wonderful Salt Sea. We arrived at Imperial 
Junction at 6:25 o'clock P. M., where a branch 
of the S. P. runs to what is called the Imperial 
Country, a large section of rich lands that lie 
along the inland sea, and is watered by irriga- 
tion from the Colorado River. In fact, the Im- 
perial Irrigation Co. was then being sued in the 
State courts of California by the Salton Salt 
Company for alleged damages which they claim- 
ed were brought about by the Irrigation Com- 
pany's flood gates not being sufficiently strong 
to withstand the pressure from the floods of the 
Colorado River; thereby deflecting the water 



300 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

from its natural course into the great dry basin. 
We arrived at Yuma, Arizona, at 8:30 P. M., 
where it is said that the sinner is always bur- 
ied with his overcoat on. There we found a 
dozen or more Indian women of the Yuma tribe, 
sitting flat on the ground between the depot 
and the railroad track, nearer the latter, dress- 
ed in fancy colored raiment, with fiery red 

Navajo blankets spread out before them, up- 
on which were placed in tasteful arrangement 
various articles of Indian fancy-work for sale. 
There was a lighted lantern placed upon the 
corner of each blanket, the price of each arti- 
cle was marked in plain figures on a little card, 
ranging from twenty-five cents to two dollars 
and fifty cents, owing to the value of the arti- 
cle priced. There they sat, stolid and indiffer- 
ent, not uttering a word or making a single 
effort to dispose of their stock in trade. They 
could not or would not speak English, so it 
was up to the tourist to buy or not, just as it 
suited his pleasure. 

We arrived at Maricopa Junction in Marico- 
pa county at 1:05 o'clock A. M., where I had 
to wait until 4:30 A. M. before I could get a 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 301 

train for Phoenix. The railroad agent there 
gave me the population of Maricopa as per cen- 
sus of 1900; which showed there were then liv- 
ing in the city eight white men, thirty Mexi- 
cans, seventy-five Indians and five hundred and 
forty-nine dogs with only a natural increase 
since. 

We were oft' for Phoenix on schedule time, 
where we arrived at 6:30 o'clock A. M. There 
I found my good Texas friend, W. L. Vinson, 
who is assistant superintendent of the Arizona 
Insane Asylum, which is located there. I was 
overjoyed to meet a true old friend after being 
so long all alone among entire strangers. He 
would have me go with him, and made me prom- 
ise to be his guest as long as I remained in 
Phoenix. At his house I was given a most cor- 
dial reception by his family, and made to feel 
at home. 

Phoenix is the most beautiful little city of 
the desert, and the metropolis as well as the 
capital of the Territory. In the early evening, 
I took a drive with Mr. Vinson behind his 2:- 
14 stepper. I was favorably impressed with 
the city; it has the best system of education to 



302 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

be found in the West, and the citizens point 
with pride to their elegant, commodious and 
substantial school buildings. As we were driv- 
ing back in the soft twilight, I was greatly sur- 
prised at the beds, cots, etc., being brought out 
of the houses, and arranged in convenient and 
cozy places about in the yards. Ou inquiring 
why this was done, Mr. Vinson informed me 
that everybody slept out of doors in the open 
air in Arizona. I found this to be so with Mr. 
Vinson's family, for when bedtime arrived I 
was assigned to the guest's section of the yard, 
which is alwavs ou the west side of *the house 
and considered the choice location for the rea- 
son that the early morning's sun will not dis- 
turb the sleeper. While the people of Arizona 
are fall of energy and thrift, I find that "Old 
Sol" rises there earlier than any other place on 
earth, and each morning catches the indus- 
trious citizens enwrapped in the soothing em- 
brace of Morpheus. Just the effects of the 
climate, I was told. 

The next morning, iu company with Mr. Vin- 
son, I visited the Capitol building, where I had 
the pleasure of meting Governor Joseph A. Kib- 




Pima Indian Women, Phoenix, Arizona, Selling Olios 
(O'-Yos) Water Jars Made of Sun-Baked Clay. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 305 

bey, Mr. G. E. Tniman, secretary of the Board 
of Control, Mr. W. A. Hill, the auditor of the 
Territory, the youngest man holding a like po- 
sition in the United States, and old honest 
Kirkland, a native Kentuckian, custodian of 
the Territory's cash. These very pleasant gentle- 
men informed me that the building was mine, 
and I was thereby granted the right to make a 
thorough inspection of it. Acting upon the 
courtesies extended, I proceeded to do so, and 
can say to the credit of the Territory that I 
found the building to be the prettiest I had seen 
in the West; it is built of native white granite, 
and upon the most modern type of architecture. 
I found, inscribed on a large white stone tablet, 
let into one of the great interior stone columns, 
the following data: "Entered as Territory 1863. 
First Legislature at Prescott, temporary Capi- 
tal, Sept. 26th, 1864. Capital located at Tuc- 
son 1867, relocated at Prescott 1877, perma- 
nently located at Phoenix February 4th, 1889, 

new Capitol building completed 1900." 

I spent one day at the Asylum with Mr. Yin- 
son, which I enjoyed very much, for the pleas- 
ures of the day I am indebted greatly to Miss 



306 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

Ward, the lovely daughter of Dr. W. H. Ward, 
the Superintendent, who was then in Portland, 
Oregon, attending the Medical Association of 
America. 

July the 25th, my last day in Phoenix, I 
spent in company with Mr. Carroll Vinson, the 
eldest son of my host. We visited the Indian 
Industrial School of the Territory, located four 
miles from the city; it is a lovely place with 
beautiful grounds and dormitories, making a 
delightful and happy home for the children of 
the Government's wards. During my stay in 
Phoenix, the Indians were a source of great in- 
terest to me. I saw members of the tribes of 
Pinias, Yumas, Papegoes, Navajos, and Mari- 
copas, who were daily upon the streets selling 
baskets, ollas (o'-yos), and trinkets of all kinds 
to the tenderfoot from the East. We spent the 
day enjoyably, strolling along the broad roads, 
shaded by giant cottonwoods, and graceful 
pomegranates, laden with crimson flowers. 

At 8 o'clock P. M., I bade my friends good- 
bye, and went aboard the train for Maricopa 
Junction, where I arrived two hours later, and 
caught the east bound Golden State Limited 




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ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 309 

for Tucson, arriving there at 3:20 P. M. My 
object in stopping at Tucson was to see the old 
San Xavier (San Zavier) Mission, which I had 
been informed was located within the city lim- 
its; but imagine my surprise and chagrin when 
on inquiring of the sleepy station agent, after 
my train had departed, I received the informa- 
tion that the old mission was eleven miles in 
the country, and the hottest road in Christen- 
dom leading out to it. However, a prominent 
citizen of the town, to whom I made complaint 
(the traveler always has a kick coining) about 
the old historical building being so far from 
the city, promised me that by the time I made 
my next visit, he would have it nioved from its 
present site into the city, or he would allow the 
city to grow so that the old church would be 
in the city limits; then I could enjoy a visit to 
the oldest mission in the United States and the 
one that so closely links the history of the past 
with that of the present. Thanking him for the 
deep interest he seemed to take in me, and 
nursing my disappointment with all the for- 
bearance I could command, I loitered around 
the depot until 7 o'clock A. M., then I caught the 



310 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

delayed local passenger train No. 44 for El 
Paso. 

About 10 o'clock, we entered what is known 
as Willcox Lake, on the eastern edge of which 
is located the toAvn of Willcox; it is a dry 
stretch of white alkali sand without a vestige 
of verdure for miles. There was proven the 
fickleness of onr vision, for on our right, reach- 
ing away to the mountains, a distance of fif- 
teen or twenty miles, spreads out what seemed 
to the eyes of the traveler, the placid waters of 
a great shimmering blue lake. Occasionally 
could be seen the dancing rippling of the wa- 
ter, as the hot breezes from the desert were 
wafted across the smooth glassy surface. A 
great number of passengers who did not know 
that it was a mirage, marveled greatly, and 
wondered where the water came from in that 
arid country that would form such a large, 
beautiful lake. One ver}^ knowing passenger 
furnished the information that the lake was 
formed from the flood waters of the Colorado 
River. He said, "Didn't we see a body of wa- 
ter yesterday in Southern California larger than 
this, formed by the overflowing waters from 




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ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 313 

that same river?" I thereupon told him that 
the Colorado River and Salton, Cal., the points 
to which he referred, were not only two thou- 
sand feet lower than the part of Arizona through 
which we were then passing; but they were at 
least three or four hundred miles away, conse- 
quently it would be a matter of impossibility 
for the flood waters of the river to flow up hill 
that distance through the mountains to* the 
valley. But my knowing friend replied by say- 
ing, "There is nothing impossible in the West." 
We arrived at Marfa, the county site of Pre- 
where a stop of twenty minutes was made for 
lunch. From that point the S. P. runs a branch 
road to Globe, the great mining town of the 
Territory, distance from Bowie one hundred and 
twenty-five miles. Soon after leaving Bowie 
we passed what is called the Indian Faced 
Rock, which can be seen plainly from the train, 
and resembles very much an Indian chief lying 
prone upon the mountain's summit, with copper 
colored face upturned to the blue skies above. 
We crossed the territorial line of Arizona and 
New Mexico at 12: 30 o'clock P. M.; on through 
Lordsburg and Deining, New Mexico, to El Paso, 



314 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

tlie Key City to the West, where we arrived at 
5:30 o'clock P. M. 

The next morning, July the 27 th, I ventured 
out on the muddy streets in order to see the 
city. For several days copious rains had been 
falling' in that usually dry country where little 
attention is given the streets and very little pav- 
ing is done; consequently I found the streets 
almost impassable. I, however, rolled up my 
pants and proceeded to wade mud like a native. 
In company with my former Lufkin friend, Mr. 
Jesse Ellis, I visited the El Paso smelters, the 
largest plant of its kind in the world. 

I spent two days in seeing the different 
points of interest in El Paso and the old town 
of Jaurez in Old Mexico, just across the Rio 
Grande River. In the latter place I visited the 
old Guadalupe Mission built in 1596, the inte- 
rior of which is finished in the most beautiful 
hand carvings and decorations, surpassing in 
exquisite design all other old missions in artis- 
tic interior finish. I also visited the Bull Pen, 
wihch represents the only dark blot on the 
fair escutcheon of the Diaz regime. 

I was off on the east bounl train for San An- 




Interior View of the Guadalupe Old Mission, Cindad, 

Juarz, Old Mexico. It has the Most Beautiful 

Interior Carvings of Any of the 

Old Missions. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 317 

tonio at 12:30 o'clock A. M., July the 29th. 
We arrived at Marfa, the county site of Pres- 
sidio County, at 4:30 o'clock A. M. Thirteen 
miles from Marfa is Paisano, the summit of the 
"Sunset Route," altitude 5,082 feet above the 
sea level; it is the highest point over which the 
Southern Pacific railroad runs between San 
Francisco and -New Orleans. That part of Tex- 
as is a great cattle country, as the gramma 
grass grows luxuriantly and is the best for fat- 
tening purposes in the State. 

We arrived at Alpine, the county site of 
Brewster countv at G o'clock A. M. It is an 
ideal little town, built on the eastern side of 
the Alpine Flats just at the foot of the moun- 
tains, altitude 4,485 feet. 

We arrived at Sanderson, the county site 
of Terrell county, at 0: 30 o'clock A. M. Short- 
ly after leaving there we ran into Sanderson 
Canyon, where on the night of July the 21st, at 
a point called Baxter's Curve, was wrecked a 
west bound "Golden State Limited" passenger 
train. Some devils incarnate had deliberately 
loosened one of the rails. The tools with which 
this diabolical act was performed were found 



318 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

near the spot. To a great extent their murder- 
ous purpose was foiled, as it seemed the engi- 
neer had been on the lookout at that acute 
curve, and the condition of the track was evi- 
dently discovered by him as he had put on the 
air-brakes, and the fact that that point is al- 
ways made at a slow rate of speed, coupled 
with the actions of the brave engineer putting 
on the air, saved the lives of over two hundred 
passengers. The engine, baggage car and smok- 
er went over the rocky precipice. The engi- 
neer, Thompson, was instantly killed, his body 
was cut in twain diagonally across his chest 
and abdomen. The fireman, Taylor, — poor fel- 
low! — was not mutilated in the least bv the 
downward plunge of the engine; but the cloud 
of escaping hot steam enveloped him complete- 
ly, and he was absolutely parboiled alive. He 
was caught by some of the passengers as he 
ran around in the rocky defile below, crazed b> 
his torture. Everything was done for him that 
possibly could be done to relieve his sufferings 
by those gathered around the wreck; but he 
was far beyond human aid, and at one o'clock 
succumbed to his terrible injuries. I was in- 




Mexican Bull Pen, Cindad, Juarz, Old Mexico. 



ON A LARK SEBIN' THE WEST. 321 

formed that the officers of Del Kio had arrested 
and jailed three Mexicans suspected of commit- 
ting the horrible deed. 

When we stopped at Langtry, I saw the old 
saloon of Koy Bean, "Justice of the Peace, Law 
West of the Pecos," who was the most noted 
character of the Southwest. He was very il- 
literate, but administered justice with an iron 
hand, and according to his own ideas of the law. 
A funny incident of the latter years of this 
Western oddity's life was related to me by a 
fellow passenger who was an eye witness to 
the fact. The old gentleman not only dispensed 
justice, but he also dispensed the liquid that 
cheers in quantities to suit the appetite of his 
coterie of friends, the ranchmen and the festive 
cow-boy. It has been the instructions of the 
Southern Pacific Company (the travelers' fa- 
vorite), and is now, that the conductors on all 
passenger trains must stop a few minutes at 
Langtry and other points of interest, for the 
pleasure and benefit of the traveler. As usual, 
one day the train stopped at Langtry, and a 
noisy crowd was turned loose on the desolate 
little town. Among the restless crowd of sight- 



-ill THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

seers was an old maid of angular form, wear- 
ing glasses and holding her skirts high, being 
near-sighted she was making a close examina- 
tion of all the places pointed out to her; in her 
perambulations she came upon Koy Bean's sa- 
loon. The gentleman who related this story to 
me and others who knew the old justice well, 
sent him word that Carrie Nation had gotten off 
the train, and was making her way to his sa- 
loon for the purpose of smashing his fixtures, 
and spilling his ungodly fluid upon the ground. 
Just as he received this bit of information, he 
espied coming toward his place of business the 
afore-mentioned specimen of the man-woman, 
before whom he made a guarded retreat; eye- 
ing with evident distrust the queer looking ob- 
ject of humanity he backed slowly to the door of 
his joint; finally as she approached nearer and 
began to ascend the steps, the old man backed 
inside the door and pushing it nearly shut, he 
stuck his head out, and shouted so not only the 
supposed Mrs. Nation could hear him, but in 
fact every one in the confines of the small town, 
"Don't come any closer, Carrie! Damn you, 
don't you come any closer!" The unsuspecting 




Rio Grande River at El Paso and Cidad Juarz, 

Old Mexico. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 325 

old maid from Boston uttered a scream that 
would have turned a Comanche Indian war 
chief green with envy, and precipitately fled for 
the train. As she climbed aboard, she was 
heard to exclaim, "The horrid old thing!" And 
Old Roy remarked, as he emerged from his sa- 
loon after the train had pulled out of the little 
station, "Bo} r s, it was the damndest closest call I 
ever had in my life; but Carrie took the bluff 
just the same." A few months ago Roy Bean 
shuffled off this mortal coil, and crossed the 
great divide from whence no man returns. No 
doubt he received justice commensurate with 
the way he administered it on this mundane 
sphere, and is now standing at the right hand of 
the great white throne. 

At one o'clock, we crossed the Pecos River on 
the highest bridge in the world; three hundred 
and twenty-one feet above the bed of th river. 
We arrived at Del Rio, county site of Yal Verde 
county, at 8 o'clock, the best frontier town of 
Texas, with a population of seven thousand 
five hundred, located near the Rio Grande 
River. 

Early in the evening, we arrived at San An- 



326 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

tonio. The next morning, July the 30th, was an- 
other of those bright and sublime Sabbath morn- 
ings, so many of which I enjoyed on my trip. 
While walking down St. Mary's street, the 
chimes of the church bells pealed forth, pro- 
claiming to the world the risen Christ. By the 
door of St. Mary's Cathedral, sat a poor blind 
Mexican woman counting her beads. I dropped 
a twenty-five cent piece of silver into the tin 
cup in her lap, and as the "Muchas gracias, 
Signor," fell upon my ears the question arose in 
my mind, "What influence impelled me to this 
act of charity?" Ah! it was the holy church 
bells that brought to my mind the words of 
Paul, "Though I speak with the tongues of 
men and of angels, and have not charity, I am 
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cym- 
bal." 

At 10 o'clock in company with two young 
gentleman with whom I had become acquaint- 
ed, Prof. W. Longino, of Marshall, and James 
O. Smith, of El Campo, I took the street car for 
Hot W^ells, five miles west of town. At Mitch- 
ed street, we left the car and walked out to the 
old Concepscion Mission, which is one and a 




Baxters Curve in Sanderson Canyon, Where S. P. 
Wreck Occurred on July 21st, 1905. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 329 

half miles from the car track, and two miles 
from town. It was erected in 173 1 and is in a 
better state of preservation than any other of 
the old missions in Texas. Its double towers, 
its antiquated dome, and its strange legends, 
make it of great and special interest. After 
about half an hour spent in rambling about 
those sacred grounds, and I had taken a snap* 
shot of the historic old building, we took the 
old Mission Road to the San Jose de Aguayo 
Mission (San-ho-se), two miles farther south 
and about four miles below San Antonio, lo- 
cated on the right bank of the San Antonio 
River. This mission was founded (about 1718) 
by Father Margel (Mar-jel) who died before it 
was completed. The carvings and statuary 
which ornament the front of this old church 
was done by one of Old Spain's greatest artists, 
Huicar (Wee-kar). The south window of the 
baptistery is classed by the best judges of art 
"the finest gem of architectural ornamentation 
in America." The chain of old missions in 
Texas was built by the Franciscan monks, an 
order founded by St. Francis, a most devout 
man. Before leaving those consecrated grounds 



330 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

of such absorbing interest, I took a snapshot of 
the quaint old church and artistic window. 

After a walk of two miles more, we reached 
Hot Wells, a celebrated health resort of West 
Texas. A beautiful hotel and natatorium is 
located there in the midst of one of nature's 
most elaborate and magnificent parks. At 2:30 
o'clock we returned to the city, and after tak- 
ing dinner at the California restaurant, we 
were off to finish the day in sight-seeing. We 
went first to Breckenridge Park three miles 
from town, which is one among the city's most 
interesting places of resort. After an hour 
spent there, we swung on to the cars again, 
and in a few minutes were sauntering down 
Lover's Lane in San Pedro Park, which was like 
stealing a visit into the Garden of Eden. 
There were thousands on the grounds who had 
escaped from the heat of the city, and were 
spending the Sunday afternoon mid sweet Aeo- 
lian strains to nature's chords attuned, listening 
to the rippling music of San Pedro's bubbling 
springs, and enjoying the umbrageous hospital- 
ity of the wide-spreading old green live-oaks, 
which stand in grand array, festooned in a 




■ ***** 

I 



Concepscion Mission, Erected in 1731, Which Stands 

as a Monument to the Fortitude of the Devout 

Old Fathers of Long Ago. 



ON A LARK SEEIN' THE WEST. 333 

drapery of Spanish moss. We lingered amid 
the scenes of inviting solace, and reluctantly 
cast off the enchanted charms that nature had 
linked about us. 

At seven o'clock, we returned to the city. At 
the corner of Houston and Javajo streets, we 
entered the Moore building, and took the ele- 
vator for the Roof Garden, where a most ex- 
quisite view of the city is unfolded before the 
eyes. There I remained until eight o-clock, 
drinking in the beauties of the picture spread 

before me. I reached my room hot and worn 
out, but with my heart full of pleasant memories 
of the Sabbath spent in the historical old Al- 
amo City. To my two companions of the day, I 
can say the pleasure was all mine by being hon- 
ored with their pleasant companionship. 

The next morning, I visited the post office on 
Alamo Plaza to see about my mail. It is a very 
imposing structure, built of Texas marble; the 
type of architecture is of the old Rhine castel- 
lated design. The remainder of the morning, 
I spent in the aid Alamo Mission building, the 
most celebrated building from an historical 
standpoint of any in all the great State of Texas. 



334 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

I never grew tired of roaming through the laby- 
rinths of the ancient old structure which holds 
within her walls so much of Texas history. Every 
room, corner, and nook furnishes its separate 
tale of valor and heroism of the builders of the 
independence of this great commonwealth. 
Through the patriotism of the Zavala Chapter 
of the Daughters of the Republic, the Alamo 
with all contiguous grounds and buildings, was 
purchased from private parties, and turned over 
to the State of Texas to be forever preserved 
to the memory of Travis, Crocket, Bowie, and 
the other members of the little band of heroes 
who stood unflinchingly by their leaders for 
liberty or death, and gave their lives to the last 
man for the cause they were defending. 

In the afternoon I visited the old Veramendi 
Palace on Solidad street, where "Old Ben Mi- 
lam" was killed by the Mexicans, Dec. 7th, 1835, 
only a few months before the battle and fall of 
the Alamo. It was in that building that Bowie 
courted and won his beautiful bride, a daughter 
of Yice-Governor Veramendi of San Antonio. 
The walls of the old building, which were 
erected in 1716 are still intact, and the old 




San Jose Mission (Sa-ho-se), Four Miles from San 

Antonio. 



336 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

double doors, wliich are about eight feet in 
length and four feet wide each, still hang, in 
all their massiveness, just as they were hung 
two hundred years ago. In the two large doors, 
are made a smaller pair which are about five 
feet high and two feet wide, and can be oper- 
ated independently of the two larger ones. Those 
old doors bear many marks of bullets and rough 

usage, and if they could only talk, they could 
relate stories that would hold the present gen- 
eration spellbound in amazement at the wonder- 
ful tragedies that have taken place about the 
walls of the old building. 

The latter part of the evening, I spent on 
Milam Square where the ■"Zavalla Chapter of the 
Daughters of the Republic have also erected a 
beautiful memorial marble monument to the 
memory of Ben Milam. On one side of the mas- 
sive block of native granite marble is inscribed 
the following: - - - - 

"Their cause — the cause of freedom and the 

free — 
Their glorious watchword — Death or Liber- 

ty! 




Artistic Old "Window in San Jose Mission. 



338 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

"Who will follow Old Ben Milam into San 
Antonio?" 

At 11:30 P. M. I caught the train for Hous- 
ton, Texas, where I arrived the next morning, 
August the 1st, at 6 o'clock, and made close con- 
nection with the Houston East and West Tex- 
as By. for Lufkin, the metropolis of East Tex- 
as, located in the midst of the famous Elberta 
peach section of the South West. I remained 
there for four and a half days looking after 
business interests. On Sunday morning, Au- 
gust the 6th, after having secured a certificate 
of health and having same duly stamped by the 
local railroad agent, (as the whole world had 
a most rigid quarantine against New Orleans 

and all Louisiana points, on account of the 

prevailing epidemic of yellow fever), I took the 

Cotton Belt Route for Jacksonville, Fla., via 
Texarkana, Memphis, Tennessee, and Atlanta, 

Ga. At Texarkana, we were held up by the 
shotgun brigade a few miles from the city, and 
the health officers came aboard, and after a 
thorough examination, allowed the train to pro- 
ceed. We were not interrupted again until 
we were nearing the great iron bridge that 




Bridge Across San Pedro Creek in San Pedro Park, 

San Antonio. 



340 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

spans the Mississippi River at the city of Mem- 
phis, where again we had to procure our health 
certificates, and show cause why we should not 
be held for ten days in the detention camp. 
Great Horn Spoons! just to think of being held 
ten days in the swamps of Arkansas in a de- 
tention camp! A poor victim subjected to 
treatment of this kind, would be related by 
consanguinity to every mosquito, the Stegomyia 
Fasciata included, from Cairo to [New Orleans, 
and would emerge from the durance vile a 
raving maniac. We were lucky to get into 
Memphis before noon of the 7th as at that time 
the city put up the bars against the earth, and 
the man in the moon. 

J\ ate my breakfast at the Hotel Gaston, after 
which I visited the City Hall near by, and of 
all the jamming, jostling crowds I have ever 
seen that one took the cake; thousands were 
gathered there engaged in a wild scramble to 
secure a certificate of health as they could only 
leave the city armed with this document. It 
was decidedly the craziest crowd I had seen 
since the registering at Fort Sill during the 
great Land Lottery in the Indian Territory in 




Ben Milam Memorial Monument, Milam Square, 

San Antonio, Tex. 



342 THE HONEST PARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

1901. I left for Nashville at 1 o'clock P. M. 
At Jackson, Tennessee, the car windows 
were put down and the doors locked; the health 
officers had boarded onr train some time before 
reaching the city, and examined our health 

certificates, and then instructed the conductor 
to lock us in, or they would not allow us to 
pass through the city. While our train was 
standing at the depot, myself and a fellow pas- 
senger raised the windows by our seats, and 
took a view of the lovely park near by. Jack- 
son is a beautiful little citv, and I am satisfied 
we threw all the boquets on that occasion as 
the quicker the city got rid of us suspicious 
characters the better she would like us. 

At Hollow Kock, we were bountifully fed on 
fried chicken and pies by the enterprising citi- 
zens of that little cross roads hamlet. We ar- 
rived in Nashville at 8: 30 o'clock P. M., without 
a challenge from the county or city health of- 
ficers, as Nashville's gates were like Atlanta's 
— open to all comers. But on a near approach 
to Chattanooga, the guardians of the public 
health boarded our train, and we were duly 
"swore" again. We had no further trouble 




Foot Bridge Across San Antonio River, Suspended 
by Wire from Large Pecan Trees on the Banks. 



344 THE HONEST FARMER FROM ARKANSAW 

until within about twenty miles of Jackson- 
ville, Florida, where onr papers were favorably 

passed npon by the health officers of this great 
sovereign State. On August the 8th at 8 o'clock 
P. M., I landed home in the city of Jacksonville, 
the great South Atlantic seaport, safe and 
sound, in the best of health, after an absence 
of a little over two months. 



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BINDERY INC. 

#1989 
N. MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 46962 










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